THE TRANSATLANTIC MAGAZINE
THE TRANSATLANTIC MAGAZINE
The U.S. Navy has released an exceptionally rare picture showing the Ohio class ballistic missile submarine USS Tennessee, sailing on the surface alongside an unnamed British Vanguard class ballistic missile submarine somewhere in the Atlantic Ocean. Both types are part of their countries' respective nuclear deterrent arsenals.
This is just the latest example this year of a highly unusual disclosure related to the Navy's 14 Ohio class ballistic missile submarines, or SSBNs, as well as the four other Ohios that have been converted into guided missile submarines, or SSGNs. Just since October, the Navy has publicly announced USS West Virginia's presence in the Arabian Sea and subsequent arrival at the British island territory of Diego Garcia in the Indian Ocean, which hosts a significant American military presence, as well as a port visit by USS Rhode Island to the British naval base in Gibraltar.
Typically, the U.S. Navy offers few, if any details about what its SSBNs, also referred to as boomers, are doing at sea or their whereabouts. When on patrol, these boats are intended to effectively disappear as part of their mission to provide a credible second-strike deterrent capability.
For the same general reasons, the British government is even tighter-lipped about its Vanguard class submarines, of which the Royal Navy has four.
The newly released picture of USS Tennessee and the unknown Vanguard class submarines sailing together also shows an E-6B Mercury aircraft from Fleet Air Reconnaissance Squadron Four (VQ-4) and an MH-60R Seahawk helicopter from Helicopter Maritime Strike Squadron 72 (HSM-72) flying overhead. The E-6B is a so-called "doomsday plane" that is specifically designed to securely communicate with Ohio SSBNs, including when they are submerged, as well as with other elements of America's nuclear triad, and, if called upon, to issue orders to launch a strike.
It's unclear where the picture of the submarines and aircraft was taken beyond that it was shot somewhere in the Atlantic Ocean on November 22. However, it is worth noting that the Navy's Submarine Force Atlantic, which is headquartered at Naval Support Activity Hampton Roads in Virginia and primarily oversees Navy submarine operations in the northwestern Atlantic, released the photo. In addition, Helicopter Maritime Strike Squadron 72 is based at Naval Air Station Jacksonville in Florida, though the MH-60R could have been assigned to a Navy warship at sea. British Vanguard submarines do regularly travel to the U.S. Navy's ranges in the Atlantic off Florida for training and other purposes, including to conduct routine test launches of Trident D5 missiles.
The recently revealed "bi-lateral at sea training" involving USS Tennessee and the Vanguard class boat was "designed to validate tactics, techniques, and procedures which strengthens the relationship between uniquely close Allies in support of deterrence and collective security," according to a caption accompanying the picture. "The United States and the United Kingdom have a long-standing agreement of cooperation in the development and deployment of strategic weapons and supporting system[s]."
Despite the caption for the picture of the two boomers sailing together in the Atlantic describing their activities simply as training, it is difficult not to view it as a show of force aimed at potential adversaries and as a demonstration of both countries' commitments to each other, as well as their respective allies and partners. It's also a very pointed display of the powerful second-strike nuclear deterrents the two nations possess.
No matter what, the picture of the USS Tennessee and the Vanguard class submarine sailing together is a highly unusual public showing of the two countries' nuclear deterrent capabilities and their ability to work together should they ever be called upon.
