The Pentagon has officially confirmed that it will send to South Korea an Ohio-class submarine capable of carrying 20 Trident II ballistic missiles with eight nuclear warheads and a launch range of up to 12,000 km

Last week, President of the Republic of Korea Yoon Suk Yeol visited the United States, where he signed the Washington

declaration."The document is aimed at containing North Korea, which is preparing to conduct its first nuclear test in many years. A key component of deterrence will be the US Navy's nuclear submarines.

What is known

At the press conference, neither Yoon Seok 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 Ohio-class submarines. This information was confirmed by the US Department of Defense a week after the signing of the "Washington Declaration".


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General Pat Ryder refusedto 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 timingsending submarines and the possibility of being equipped with nuclear weapons. Any of the 14 Ohio SSBN submarines can carry up to 20 Trident II (D5) ballistic missiles, each of which can be equipped with eight nuclear warheads. The launch range is 12,000 km.


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One of the first contenders to go to the Republic of Korea is the USS Maine (SSBN-741) submarine. 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 fourOhio-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.


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Regular visits by SSBN submarines arenot the only point of 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.