Along with two American aircraft carriers in the Middle East, the United States Central Command (CENTCOM)has sent a Ohio class nuclear submarine to the same regionwhich join thousands of troops and dozens of fighters to deter Iran and the Lebanese Shiite party-militia Hezbollah to join the war between Hamas and Israel. The Pentagon announcement is rare since it does not usually announce submarine movements for security reasons. “On November 5, 2023, an Ohio class submarine has arrived in the area of responsibility of the United States Central Command,” CENTCOM announced on its account on the social network X, formerly Twitter.
The social media post does not name the submarine, but the US Navy has four Ohio-class guided missile submarines, which are former ballistic missile submarines converted to fire Tomahawk cruise missiles instead of ballistic missiles with nuclear warheads, CNN reports. Each Ohio-class submarine can carry 154 Tomahawk cruise missiles, 50% more than US guided missile destroyers and almost four times more than usual on the US Navy’s newest attack submarines.
This decision to reinforce the military presence in the area comes days after Iran and Hezbollahother pro-Iran militias operating in both Syria and Iraq, will attack US bases in the region and threaten to further intensify “its offensive” against the forces of the international coalition.
This escalation of regional tension has occurred after the war that began between Israel and Hamas after the Palestinian militia began an incursion on October 7 that left more than 1,400 Israelis dead and 239 hostages.
In response, the Israeli Army has imposed a blockade on the Gaza Strip and began an air and ground offensive that has already left more than 9,700 Palestinians dead, of which 4,800 are children, according to Palestinian authorities. enclave.
The Eisenhower aircraft carrier in the Red Sea
For his part, the aircraft carrier USS Dwight D. Eisenhower of the United States is already in the eastern Mediterranean. The Eisenhower sailed through the Suez Canal to join the US Fifth Fleet, a Defense official told USNI News. The objective is to deter the spread of the conflict between Israel and Hamas throughout the region.
The Eisenhower, the missile cruiser USS Philippine Sea and the destroyer USS Mason entered the Red Sea in the first time a US aircraft carrier has operated in the Middle East since the USS Ronald Reagan left the region in 2021. For the first time in decades, Two US aircraft carriers sailed together in the eastern Mediterranean, the US Sixth Fleet revealed.
