The United States Army It made the unusual decision to reveal that its commander-in-chief for the Middle East was aboard a US ballistic missile submarine in the Arabian Sea.
In a move likely to make waves in the area, General Eric Korella stepped up USS West Virginia for about eight hours on Wednesday in an unknown location in international waters.
The ship is one of the US Navy’s Ohio-class long-range submarines that can launch nuclear missile strikes as part of the country’s nuclear triad. One of six ballistic missile submarines stationed at Naval Submarine Base Kings Bay, Georgia, USS West Virginia It can carry up to 20 submarine-launched ballistic missiles with multiple warheads.
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The pentagonal It rarely reveals the location of its nuclear-powered submarines that often do not patrol the Middle East, the Associated Press reported. But it comes as a Russian president Russian President Vladimir Putin It makes nuclear threats in relation to the war in Ukraine.
Also, US Navy Chief Admiral Mike Gilday warned This week, the US military should be prepared for the possibility of a Chinese invasion of Taiwan before 2024. This came after the foreign minister’s comments Anthony Blinken He said China was “determined to pursue reunification on a much faster schedule” with the autonomous island.
Meanwhile, Iran, located in the Central Command area, provides Putin’s forces with drones that are used to strike civilian targets in Ukraine.
Stephen Beaver, a former US ambassador to Ukraine, wrote on Twitter: “When a ballistic missile submarine surfaces a usnavy and a geo-fighter command tells its location, a message is sent to someone.”
When asked who he thought the message was for, he told Beaver NEWSWEEK“I’m still trying to figure it out. It could be two steps – a message to both Moscow and Beijing to remind them of the strategic capabilities of the United States.”
US Central Command said Corella met Vice Admiral Brad Cooper, commander of the US Navy’s Fifth Fleet, aboard the submarine and got a “hands-on demonstration” of what the ship could do.
Corella described the submarine as part of the “crown jewel of the nuclear triad” that demonstrated “the resilience, survivability, readiness, and capability of US Central Command and US forces at sea.”
His visit is coming NATO Annual nuclear exercises begin in northwest Europe involving fighter jets capable of carrying nuclear warheads and US B-52 long-range bombers.
The Alliance insisted that Operation Lasting Noon It was planned for a long time and was not connected with the war in Ukraine. But as Katarzyna Zisek of the Norwegian Institute for Defense Studies previously said, NEWSWEEKWorkouts that run until October 30 and include 14 Alliance membersIt aims to maintain the “credibility of deterrence and defense” of the coalition.
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