Last week, South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol visited the United States, where he signed the Washington Declaration. The document is aimed at deterring the DPRK, which is preparing to conduct its first nuclear test in many years. A key component of deterrence will be nuclear submarines US Navy boats.

What is known

At the press conference, neither Yoon Suk Yeol nor Joe Biden (Joe Biden) did not reveal all the cards regarding the sending of nuclear submarines to the Republic of Korea. Later there was information that we are talking about submarines Ohio class. This information was confirmed by the US Department of Defense a week after the signing of the “Washington Declaration”.

Gen. Pat Ryder declined to name which submarines will go to the Republic of Korea in the future. However, he stated that these would definitely be Ohio-class submarines that could carry Trident II (D5) intercontinental ballistic missiles, i.e. we are talking about strategic cruisers SSBN.

At the same time, Pat Ryder did not disclose the timing of the dispatch of submarines and the likelihood of equipping nuclear weapons. Any one of the 14 Ohio SSBNs can carry up to 20 Trident II (D5) ballistic missiles, each of which can be armed with eight nuclear warheads. The launch range is 12,000 km.

One of the applicants for the first to go to the Republic of Korea is a submarine USS Maine (SSBN-741). Last month, she arrived in the region and made a scheduled port call on the island of Guam.

Note that in addition to SSBN, there are four Ohio-class submarines that carry cruise missiles, i.e. SSGN. These are USS Ohio (SSGN-726), USS Michigan (SSGN-727), USS Florida (SSGN-728) and USS Georgia (SSGN-729). Each submarine can be equipped with 154 Tomahawk missiles.

Regular visits by SSBN submarines are not the only item in the “Washington Declaration”. The document provides for an increase in the duration of the deployment of components of the American strategic forces in the Republic of Korea and the creation of an advisory group on nuclear issues.

Source: Yonhap