The United States has recently sent two of its nuclear-powered submarines to the Western Pacific Ocean, where they visited an island that can project military power against China.
Newsweek has contacted the U.S. Pacific Fleet Submarine Force for comment by email. The Chinese military did not immediately respond to Newsweek’s request for comment.
Why It Matters
The island of Guam, which is the westernmost U.S. territory, is about 1,500 miles east of the Philippines and south of Japan, making it an ideal staging area to deliver U.S. military power to the contested Taiwan Strait, as well as the East and South China Seas.
Guam is home to American Air Force, Navy, and Marine Corps bases. It also forms a blockade known as the second island chain, one of the layers of a U.S. defense concept that seeks to constrain the Chinese military in wartime with allied or friendly territories.
What To Know
Photos released by the U.S. Navy show USS Columbia, a Los Angeles-class fast-attack submarine, and USS Vermont, a Virginia-class fast-attack submarine, visited Guam on January 12 and 20, respectively, during their deployments supporting the Seventh Fleet.
This is America’s largest forward-deployed numbered fleet and has an operating area that covers the Western Pacific Ocean and the Indian Ocean. It works with allies and partners in preserving a free and open Indo-Pacific region, the U.S. Navy said.
Both the Columbia and the Vermont are homeported at Joint Base Pearl Harbor-Hickam in Hawaii. They are conventionally armed with Tomahawk cruise missiles that can hit targets on land from 1,000 miles away, as well as torpedoes to sink hostile ships and submarines.
The United States Navy Los Angeles-class fast-attack submarine USS
US Sends Nuclear-Powered Submarines to China’s Backyard
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