US CENTCOM Commander General Michael Kurilla visited the USS
West Virginia nuclear-powered ballistic missile submarine at an undisclosed
location in international waters in the Arabian Sea on Wednesday, United
States Central Command announced.
Kurilla was joined by Vice Admiral Brad Cooper, Commander of
the US Navy's Fifth Fleet and NAVCENT. Kurilla received a hands-on
demonstration of the capabilities of the vessel during the visit.
These submarines are the crown jewel of the nuclear triad, and
the West Virginia demonstrates the flexibility, survivability, readiness and
capability of USCENTCOM and USSTRATCOM forces at sea" said Kurilla.
The West Virginia is one of six ballistic-missile submarines
stationed at Naval Submarine Base Kings Bay, Georgia. The submarine can carry
up to 20 submarine-launched ballistic missiles with multiple warheads. The
submarine is equipped with Trident D5 submarine-launched ballistic missiles,
each of which can be armed with up to eight 475 kiloton W88 nuclear warheads
which can each be aimed toward a separate target.
Each W88 warhead has a yield about 23 times larger than the
"Fat Man" nuclear bomb dropped on Nagasaki. A blast caused by such a
weapon would likely destroy most structures within a 4.9- to 6-kilometer radius
and cause 3rd degree burns to people within about 8 kilometers of the blast
site, according to the MIT Nuclear Weapons Education Project.
The announcement by CENTCOM was marked as unusual by
analysts, as the US does not usually reveal the location of its ballistic
missile submarines.
The visit to the USS West Virginia comes amid concerns that
Russia could use tactical nuclear weapons in its continuing invasion of
Ukraine and as Iran continues to provide drones to Russia for it to use against
Ukraine and plans to provide ballistic missiles as well.
NATO is also holding its annual nuclear deterrence exercise
over north-western Europe which will continue until October 30.
The exercise involves 14 countries and up to 60 aircraft,
including fighter jets and surveillance and tanker aircraft. The exercise,
called "Steadfast Noon," is hosted by a different NATO ally each
year.
The visit also comes as China continues to up its rhetoric
against Taiwan and as attempts to return to the JCPOA nuclear deal with Iran
remain stalled.
On
Monday, Robert Malley, the US Special Representative for Iran, told CNN that
attempts to revive the JCPOA nuclear deal are "not on the US agenda as
they have been stalled for two months due to Iranian demands.
"Iran is making demands that have nothing to do with
the JCPOA and as long as that's the case the talks will be stalled," said
Malley, adding that the US continues to believe that diplomacy is the best way
to stop Iran from attaining nuclear weapons.
