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His billion-dollar submarine -- the U.S.
Navy's newest twist on underwater warfare --
is hovering just below the surface off the
Pacific island of Guam as a submersible
disappears into the dark waters, carrying a
team of commandos. The Ohio is the first
of a new class of submarine created in a
conversion of 1970s vessels by trading
nuclear-tipped ICBMs for conventional cruise
missiles and a contingent of commandos ready
to be launched onto virtually any shore
through rejiggered missile tubes -- against
conventional forces or terrorists.
The sub's cruise across the Pacific comes
as China builds its submarine fleet into the
region's largest as part of the bulking up
of its military. The voyage is the Ohio's
first deployment since the makeover, and
Hale is in the odd position of showing the
ship off.
It's odd because the sub is all about
stealth.
Hale can't talk about where the ship is
going. The back of the ship, where the
nuclear power plant is located, is off
limits. The leader of the SEAL commando
contingent aboard can't be named and the
commandos themselves can't be photographed
in any way that shows their faces.
But, over the next few months, the Ohio
will be making a very public statement,
training intensively in some of the world's
most crowded and contested waters and
joining in exercises with America's Asian
allies. Instead of hiding them, the Ohio
will be showcasing its abilities to elude
detection and operate too deeply and quickly
to be tracked. It made its first stop last
week in Busan, South Korea, for joint
exercises.
Then it will likely do what it does best
-- vanish.
"Submarines are the original stealth
platform," Hale told The Associated Press,
the only media allowed on board. "Submarine
forces have always viewed the Pacific as a
very important strategic area ... it's
certainly grown in importance in the last 10
years."
Just about every country with a coastline
in Asia wants or has subs.
China, Japan, Australia, India, Malaysia,
Pakistan, Indonesia, Singapore, Bangladesh
and South and North Korea either now have or
are planning to acquire them.
Most don't pose much of a threat to the
more advanced American fleet. But that is
changing.
While Russia continues to be a factor,
China now has the biggest submarine fleet in
the region, with nearly 60. The U.S. has
upped its presence in the Pacific, and now
has more ships -- and more subs -- in this
part of the world than in the Atlantic.
But they are still outnumbered.
"There are many challenges in the
Pacific," Hale said. "China is certainly one
of them, but it is not the only one."
China's subs are mainly diesel-powered,
meaning they must come up for air more
frequently than U.S. nuclear-powered
vessels, and their crews are not believed to
be as well trained as American submariners,
who spend several months at a time at sea.
China's fleet is also highly focused on
patrolling its own coastal waters and on
dealing with potential hostilities over
Taiwan, rather than with "projecting force,"
or trying to control faraway shipping lanes.
But its the long-term goals that remain
opaque.
Two years ago, a Chinese sub shocked the
U.S. Navy by surfacing within torpedo range
of the USS Kitty Hawk aircraft carrier near
the Japanese island of Okinawa. Beijing
claimed the sub was in international waters
and was not "stalking" the carrier, which
was taking part in a naval exercise.
The growing rivalry was underscored in
November, when Beijing refused a scheduled
port call by the Kitty Hawk's battle group
to Hong Kong, forcing thousands of sailors
to spend Thanksgiving at sea. In January,
however, China allowed a visit to the port
by another U.S. Navy vessel.
Washington has repeatedly expressed
concern that China is pouring money into
expanding its forces. Beijing increased its
military budget by nearly 18 percent to
about $45 billion last year, the largest
annual hike in more than a decade, and U.S.
officials believe actual spending is
greater.
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The Chinese, meanwhile, are closely
watching to see how U.S. concern translates
into changes in the U.S. Navy. When the
Ohio, which is based in Bangor, Wash.,
docked at Guam last month, China's official
Xinhua news agency called the submarine a
"warehouse of explosives" and a "devil of
deterrence."
"If the Ohio turns west from Guam, it
would need only hours to travel to the
coastal waters of many Asian nations," it
said. "The U.S. Navy believes the power of
the cruise missile-armed nuclear submarine
will be tremendous in a future war."
That is exactly what the Navy wants China
and others to think, and why the Ohio is in
the Pacific.
"The advanced capabilities that we have
brought to this ship make it a premier
front-line submarine," said the Ohio's
executive officer, Lt. Commander Al Ventura.
"This has taken the submarine force to a
whole new level."
The Ohio has both vast firepower and the
ability to deploy quickly to wherever it's
needed.
It has 24 launch tubes, 15 of which have
been fitted for multiple Tomahawks -- more
than 100 in total. That's more than were
launched in the entire first Gulf War. From
an offshore position in the Pacific, it
could strike Pyongyang, North Korea. From
the Indian Ocean, it could hit anywhere in
Afghanistan.
The switch to conventional missiles is a
concept borne of necessity.
Under a 1992 disarmament treaty, the U.S.
Navy had to give up four of its 18
"boomers," huge submarines that have for
decades served as mobile launch platforms
for long-range nuclear missiles and were
primary players in the Cold War game of
cat-and-mouse between Washington and Moscow.
Instead of scrapping the ships, however,
the Navy converted them. The nuclear weapons
were replaced with conventional Tomahawk
guided missiles and several of the launch
tubes refitted to deploy the Navy SEALs in
submersible boats.
Because of the sheer size of the sub --
it's 560 feet long -- it has more room for
its 160-member crew and dozens of commandos
than an attack submarine. While still
cramped and claustrophobic, sailors have
bigger beds and several places for working
out, which the SEALs do constantly.
Among the SEALs, stealth remains a way of
life.
In a wardroom just yards from the
Tomahawk missile tubes, the head of the SEAL
contingent agreed to be interviewed, but
only if he wasn't identified or
photographed, lest he or his family be
tracked down by terrorists, for whom killing
a SEAL would be a major propaganda coup.
"We go places," he said. "Let's just
leave it at that."
While near Guam, the SEALs conducted
operations simulating an undersea launch in
their submersible and a landing to assess a
fictitious terrorist threat. Guam was dubbed
"Backwateria" and the terrorists called the
"Al-Shakur." The names of the terrorist
leaders were taken from a popular TV
cartoon.
The island could just as well have been
Taiwan, or the shores of North Korea.
The SEAL commander said the simulations
were not aimed at any particular country.
Still, he said, it's not just idle
training.
"This capability has been used before,
and it will probably be used again," he
said.
[Associated
Press; By ERIC TALMADGE]
Copyright 2008 The Associated Press.
All rights reserved. This material may not
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