Here's America's Secret Weapon to Fight China Anywhere

Ohio-class submarine, America's secret weapon to fight China in the Indo-Pacific Vice President of the United States Mike Pence declared that America seeks a free Indo-Pacific, where countries and individuals can exercise their God-given liberties. He touted Washington's progress in deepening its relationship with the region's democracies, from old allies such as Australia, newer partners such as India, and small nations as the summit host Papua New Guinea. Pence contrasted this approach with Chinese coercion, and announced that authoritarianism and aggression have no place in the Indo-Pacific. How best could the United States metaphorically kick down the Anti-Access Aerial Denial A2AD door of a near-peer adversary during a conflict? This has been an ID fix for American defense planners during recent years, in view of the rising A2AD capabilities of strategic competitors such as China. The U.S possesses deep-strike capabilities that stand a much better chance of circumventing the Access Denial Barrier. Air Force stealth bombers and the Navy's Tomahawk Land Attack Cruise Missiles TLAMs which is deployed on cruisers, destroyers, and submarines. And with regard to the Tomahawk-armed naval platforms, the Ohio-class nuclear-powered cruise missile submarine SSGN is undoubtedly the most potent in terms of TLAM capacity, as well as being the most survivable owing to its extremely low observability. Hence with its stealth and firepower, the Ohio SSGN is arguably the ideal counter A2AD missile platform in the U.S. arsenal. The Ohio SSGNs began life as Ballistic Missile Submarines, SSBNs, before they were refitted as underwater arsenal ships during the early to mid-2000s. During the conversion, 22 of the boat's 24 ballistic missile tubes were modified to receive a special canister that enables the storage and launch of 7 TLAMs each, with the other two missile silos being adapted to support special operations for at least 66 Navy SEALs. Following the conversion, the Ohio SSGN can carry 154 TLAMs, which is slightly more than half the total number of missiles expended during Operation Desert Storm. Moreover, the sub can launch its entire arsenal of Tomahawks in as little as 6 minutes, making it an ideal platform to deliver a large pulse of firepower that would be crucial during the opening stages of a counter A2AD campaign. This pulse could be unleashed on air defense, command and control, and other key installations that enable the access denial door to be knocked down. When that happens, carrier planes and the Air Force's non-stealthy aircraft would then find it easier to enter the door in follow-up operations. Creating this immense firepower of the Ohio SSGN to bear on the enemy's access denial barrier is then greatly facilitated by the submarine's stealth. For one, it goes without saying that the submarine is much harder to detect compared to the various U.S. Navy Tomahawk-armed surface combatants, and this eases considerably its penetration into an enemy's inner sanctum. Moreover, the stealth of the Ohio SSGN means that it could launch its cruise missiles from a position further within the enemy's A2AD envelope. TLAM armed surface ships would hesitate to operate any closer than 900 nautical miles from the enemy's shore if the latter possesses credible anti-surface systems. On the other hand, the Ohio SSGN does not face this problem. As such, it could operate much nearer to the enemy and concomitantly be able to hit more targets inland. Critics can contend that the firing of TLAMs would nullify the Ohio's low detectability advantage. This is because the launch of a missile underwater is a noisy affair, and the flaming datum would give away the position of the submarine, making it susceptible to enemy counterattack. However, when the Ohio SSGN fires off its TLAMs, clears datum and resumes silent running, it becomes once again a virtual shadow in the sea. All that being said, it is virtually a cast-iron certainty that the Ohio SSGN will be the sole class of nuclear-powered cruise missile submarine to serve in the United States Navy. The chances of Washington deciding to have a purpose-built SSGN in the near future are extremely remote, to say the least. This state of affairs could change, however, if the international security system were to experience strategic shocks of seismic proportions. But it is the vehement wish of the author that such events will never happen. The Ohio class of nuclear-powered submarines is the sole class of ballistic missile submarines – SSBN – currently in service with the United States Navy. Fourteen of the 18 boats are SSBNs, which along with U.S. Air Force strategic bombers and intercontinental ballistic missiles, constitute the nuclear deterrent triad of the U.S. The remaining four have been converted from their initial roles as SSBNs to cruise missile submarines, SSGNs. The Ohio-class boats, each displaying 18,750 tons submerged, are the third-largest submarines in the world, behind the 48,000-ton Typhoon-class and 24,000-ton Borei-class of the Russian Navy. The Ohio class replaced the Benjamin Franklin and Lafayette-class SSBNs. The lead submarine of this class is USS Ohio. The 14 Trident II SSBNs together carry about half of U.S. active strategic thermonuclear warheads. Although the Trident missiles have no pre-set targets when the submarines go on patrol, they can be given targets quickly from the United States Strategic Command based in Nebraska, using secure and constant radio communications links, including very low-frequency systems. All the Ohio-class submarines, except for USS Henry M. Jackson, are named for U.S. states, which U.S. Navy tradition had previously reserved for battleships and cruisers. The Ohio-class boats are the largest submarines ever built for the U.S. Navy. Two Russian Navy classes have larger total displacements. The Soviet-designed Typhoon-class submarines have over twice the total displacement and Russia's Borei-class submarines have roughly 25% greater displacement. But the Ohio-class boats carry more missiles than either. 24 Trident missiles apiece vs 16 by the Borei-class and 20 by the Typhoon-class. The U.S. Navy has a total of 18 Ohio-class submarines which consist of 14 Ballistic Missile Submarines SSBNs and 4 Cruise Missile Submarines SSGNs. The SSBN submarines are also known as Trident Submarines and provide the sea-based leg of the U.S. nuclear triad. Each SSBN submarine is armed with up to 24 Trident II Submarine Launched Ballistic Missiles SLBM. Each SSGN is capable of carrying 154 Tomahawk cruise missiles, plus a complement of Harpoon missiles to be fired through their torpedo tubes. The U.S. Department of Defense anticipates a continued need for a sea-based strategic nuclear force. The first of the current Ohio SSBNs is expected to be retired by 2029. So the replacement submarine must be seaworthy by that time. A replacement may cost over $4 billion per unit, compared to Ohio's $2 billion. The U.S. Navy is exploring two options. The first is a variant of the Virginia-class nuclear-powered attack submarines. The second is a dedicated SSBN, either with a new hull or based on an overhaul of the current Ohio. Thank you.