The United States has deployed an Ohio-class nuclear submarine to the Middle East, reports the United States Central Command (CENTCOM).
“On November 5, 2023, the Ohio-class submarine arrived in the United States Central Command area of responsibility,” CENTCOM said in a post on the X/Twitter social network. Central Command’s area of responsibility includes the Middle East region, as well as East Africa and Central Asia.
The command did not provide further details, but published a photograph of the submarine in the area of the road bridge over the Suez Canal (also known as the Hosni Mubarak Bridge). However, the date the photo was taken is not indicated.
CENTCOM did not reveal the name of the submarine, only its class. Most Ohio-class submarines are capable of carrying Trident ICBMs (such submarines are called SSBNs), while four SSGN submarines (USS Michigan, USS Ohio, USS Georgia, and USS Florida) can be armed with Tomahawk cruise missiles. .
In April, the US Navy sent the USS Florida to the Middle East in support of the US Fifth Fleet based in Bahrain.
However, there is no official confirmation that it was the USS Florida that was deployed to the region in November (what’s more, the Israeli news portal Ynet reports that we are talking about a submarine armed with ballistic missiles).
On November 4, Central Command announced that the USS Dwight Eisenhower aircraft carrier strike group had arrived in the Middle East. In addition to the aircraft carrier of the same name, the group includes the guided missile cruiser USS Philippine Sea, as well as the destroyers USS Mason and USS Gravely.
In the Mediterranean, Eisenhower and his accompanying ships joined the Gerald Ford aircraft carrier strike group, which arrived in the region on 10 October. In addition to the aircraft carrier itself, the group includes the guided missile cruiser USS Normandy and four Arleigh Burke-class destroyers.
Earlier, US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin called the sending of the ships an attempt to “deter hostile actions against Israel or any efforts to expand this war.”
