In a rare announcement, the US military said a guided missile submarine has arrived in the Middle East, a message of deterrence clearly directed at regional adversaries as the Biden administration tries to avoid a broader conflict amid the Israel-Hamas war.
US Central Command said on social media Sunday that an Ohio-class submarine was entering its area of responsibility. A picture posted with the announcement appeared to show the sub in the Suez Canal northeast of Cairo.
The social media post did not name the sub, but the US Navy has four Ohio-class guided missile submarines, or SSGNs, which are former ballistic missile subs converted to fire Tomahawk cruise missiles rather than nuclear-tipped ballistic missiles.
Yeah, it’s just… It’s a bad idea to walk into a room and wave a gun around, unless you plan to actually use the gun.
As an individual person yes. Geopolitics work differently.
It’s a big thing to show off your military. Dances, parades, war games, training exercises, and stuff like this. In some cases, you can even attack and it won’t be considered a declaration of war - if you attack an empty post, it sends a signal that you don’t want to escalate, but that you need to “respond” to satisfy some internal pressure or to save face.
Using a nuke on an empty spot would be a bit extreme though. Let’s hope no one is crazy enough to actually do that or worse.
Oh, this is probably why:
IDF Arrow intercepts ballistic missile fired from Yemen
Probably the public statement about the submarine full of cruise missiles is intended as a direct threat to this group and any others with similar intentions. The message is basically “stop that or we will stop you”.
The Tomahawks on the submarine would be the weapon of choice for destroying land-based ballistic missile launching systems.