WASHINGTON (Sputnik) - US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin has ordered the USS Georgia nuclear submarine to be deployed to the Middle East and the deployment of the Abraham Lincoln aircraft carrier to the region to be accelerated, the Pentagon said on Sunday following Austin’s conversation with Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant.
“Secretary Austin has ordered the USS ABRAHAM LINCOLN Carrier Strike Group, equipped with F-35C fighters, to accelerate its transit to the Central Command area of responsibility, adding to the capabilities already provided by the USS THEODORE ROOSEVELT Carrier Strike Group. Additionally, the Secretary has ordered the USS Georgia (SSGN 729) guided missile submarine to the Central Command region,” the Pentagon said.
Nuclear armed submarine, or nuclear powered submarine? Those are two very very different things.
In the case of the USS Georgia, it was converted from a ballistic missile submarine to a cruise missile submarine in the early 2000s. Which is part of the reason the Georgia needs to relocate to the Middle East to carry out it’s mission, as cruise missiles have a much shorter range than intercontinental ballistic missiles (ICBMS). While the Tomahawk cruise missiles onboard submarines used to have W80 nuclear warheads as part of their arsenal, these were officially retired in 2013. The 154 cruise missiles onboard currently have anti ship, anti ground, cluster munition and anti electrical infrastructure warheads. However the navy does want a new nuclear cruise missile. Also, this doesn’t really matter much, stealth fighters and bombers in the region from both the US and Israel are capable of carrying nuclear weapons like the B61. And ballistic missile submarines can launch nuclear strikes against pretty much any location on earth from any location on earth.