The Ohio-class nuclear submarine USS Alaska made an unusual visit to British overseas Gibraltar, while the USS Montpelier loaded mines in the middle of the Mediterranean sea, where the Russian navy was conducting exercises.
“The submarine USS Alaska docked at the port of Gibraltar on June 28. The brief stopover helps strengthen cooperation between the United States and the British overseas territory of Gibraltar, demonstrates the capacity and readiness of the United States, as well as maintains maintaining its commitment to NATO,” the US Navy said in a statement yesterday.
According to military expert Joseph Trevithick of Drive, the visit of an Ohio-class ballistic missile nuclear submarine to the British naval base in Gibraltar, the territory that controls the gateway between the Atlantic Ocean and the Mediterranean Sea, is Very rare move.
What’s also different is how quickly the US Navy made public information about this visit, Trevithick said. Close-up of torpedoes on US nuclear submarines.
It’s been a long time since an Ohio-class ballistic missile submarine has docked at Gibraltar. Previously, the USS Florida, also an Ohio-class submarine, had stopped at least twice in the past 12 years, but this time the submarine had abandoned nuclear ballistic missiles and replaced it with Tomahawk cruise missiles.
The surprise US visit to this British land for an Ohio-class nuclear submarine carrying strategic ballistic missiles shows that Washington will always stand by London in the context of escalating tensions between Russia and Britain.
With a displacement of 18,750 tons when submerged and a length of 175 m, the Ohio class is the largest submarine model in US naval history.
Each ship can carry 24 UGM-133 Trident II D5 submarine-launched ballistic missiles (SLBMs) with a range of 11,300 km.
Each missile can carry up to 12 nuclear warheads with a total explosive power equivalent to 5.7 million tons of TNT.
The total arsenal of nuclear weapons on the US Ohio-class strategic nuclear submarines is equivalent to the total number of weapons used by all sides in World War II. With this arsenal an Ohio submarine can easily easily obliterated a continent.
Ohio-class strategic submarines are also equipped with four self-protecting torpedo tubes. The torpedo tubes are located at the bow of the ship with a slight angle of inclination to the diameter plane of the ship.
The torpedo base is 8 rounds of Mk-48, used to fight submarines and surface ships. The vessel can dive to a maximum depth of more than 300m.
The ship’s electronic system is very modern, including the AN/BQQ-6 supersonic marine reconnaissance radar, which is capable of operating very well in passive mode – receiving sonar signals. With a powerful nuclear engine, this ship can maneuver at a speed of 25 knots. It carried 155 officers and sailors.
The US Navy currently builds 18 Ohio-class ballistic missile submarines (SSBNs). After the end of the Cold War, the US decided to convert four Ohio-class submarines, remove Trident ballistic missiles and equip them with Tomahawk land attack cruise missiles (TLAMs).
After being upgraded, each converted Ohio-class submarine can carry 154 Tomahawks, more cruise missiles than a fleet of surface ships. All of these missiles can be launched in salvos from underwater within 6 minutes.
This leaves only 14 ships equipped with strategic nuclear ballistic missiles. Since 2002, the submarine USS Ohio has been the only long-range ballistic missile-carrying ship in service with the United States Navy.
Russia holds the record for the largest super submarine in the world, but the US holds the record for having the largest destructive nuclear submarine on the planet, an Ohio-class submarine of the US is capable of wiping out a whole record. geography.