The US Military Central Command announced Sunday the arrival of an Ohio-class submarine in the Middle East area of responsibility.
CNN said in a report that it is rare for the Ministry of Defense to publish information on the movements of its submarines. But the US Central Command declared in its official account on the site X, formerly Twitter, that an “Ohio” class submarine had arrived in the Middle East.
The photo published along with the announcement shows the submarine in the Suez Canal northeast of Cairo, according to the network.
On November 5, 2023, an Ohio-class submarine arrived in the U.S. Central Command area of responsibility. pic.twitter.com/iDgUFp4enp
— US Central Command (@CENTCOM) November 5, 2023
The network believes that this rare announcement is seen as a message of deterrence clearly aimed at regional adversaries, led by Iran and its proxies in the region, while US President Joe Biden’s administration is trying to avoid a broader conflict amid the war between Israel and Israel. Hamas.
The network explained that the US military rarely announces the movements or operations of its fleet of ballistic and guided missile submarines, as the nuclear-powered ships are subject to near-total secrecy as part of the US nuclear triad, along with silos intercontinental ballistic missiles and strategic systems. bombers.
The Ohio-class ships come in two different types, carrying guided missiles such as the Tomahawk cruise missile or nuclear-capable ballistic missiles, according to the Stripes website.
But Central Command did not clarify whether the submarine was the type that launches ballistic or cruise missiles.
Four Ohio-class guided missile submarines can carry up to 154 Tomahawk missiles with a range of up to 1,600 miles. According to the site, fourteen nuclear submarines can also carry up to 20 ballistic missiles with a range of up to 4,000 miles.
The submarine, whose name was not revealed, joins a number of other US Navy assets already in the region, including two carrier strike groups and an amphibious group, according to CNN.
On Sunday, U.S. Central Command announced the arrival of the Dwight D. Eisenhower aircraft carrier fleet in the Middle East as part of strengthening its regional posture.
The command said in a tweet on
The Dwight D. Eisenhower Carrier Strike Group (IKECSG) arrived in the Middle East and CENTCOM area of responsibility as part of the regional posture surge.
The strike group is commanded by Carrier Strike Group (CSG) 2 and includes the flagship aircraft carrier USS… pic.twitter.com/CYLX5mTTki
— US Central Command (@CENTCOM) November 4, 2023
The group consists of the aircraft carrier and guided-missile cruiser USS Philippine Sea (CG 58), the guided-missile destroyers USS Mason (DDG 87) and the destroyer squadron (DDG 107), Carrier Air Wing (CVW) 3 with its nine squadrons and the information warfare commander.
The Dwight Eisenhower aircraft carrier, along with its accompanying group of ships, joins the Gerald Ford aircraft carrier, which Washington deployed to the region following attacks launched by Hamas against Israel on October 7.
The sending of the aircraft carrier, as announced last October by US Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin, falls within the framework of “deterring hostile actions against Israel or any attempt to expand the war following the attack launched by Hamas” against Israel. .
On October 7, Hamas launched its most violent attack on Israel and, according to authorities, at least 1,400 people were killed, most of whom were civilians who died in the first days of the attacks. According to the army, Hamas holds 241 hostages.
Following the Israeli bombing of Gaza, 9,488 people died, most of them civilians, including 3,900 children, according to data from the Strip’s Ministry of Health.