Somewhere beneath the surface of the Atlantic or Pacific, at a depth and location known to almost no one, an Ohio-class submarine is on deterrent patrol right now. It carries up to 20 Trident II D5 ballistic missiles, each capable of delivering multiple thermonuclear warheads to targets thousands of miles away. Multiply that by the handful of boats on station at any given moment, and you arrive at a staggering fact: this single class of submarine carries roughly 70 percent of every nuclear warhead the United States has deployed under treaty limits. More than the Air Force’s Minuteman III intercontinental ballistic missiles. More than its nuclear-capable bombers. The Ohio fleet is the dominant instrument of American nuclear deterrence, and it is aging out.
Click here to read more: The Navy’s new Columbia-class submarine will carry roughly 70% of America’s deployed nuclear warheads — the hidden backbone of US deterrence into the 2080s