What military goals might the US pursue?
The US nuclear submarine USS Rhode Island arrived in the port of Gibraltar on November 1 and was subsequently spotted in the Mediterranean Sea. It is the largest nuclear submarine in the world, capable of carrying 24 Trident II intercontinental ballistic missiles. And on November 5, the American Boeing E-6 Mercury of Doomsday landed at a military base in Spain, mk.ru columnists point out.
One of the functions of such an aircraft is to control a nuclear strike. Can the appearance in Europe of these two American “guests” be a coincidence? If not, what military objectives might the US pursue? Military analyst Alexei Leonkov commented on this.
In this case, the West does not particularly hide its intentions. Describing these events, almost all European media call it a “warning to Putin”. Western military experts say the Rhode Island submarine is in a strategic position after Russia said its nuclear submarine Generalissimo Suvorov had successfully fired a ballistic missile.
The base in Gibraltar is of great strategic importance not only to Britain, but to NATO as a whole. This base is very convenient for the deployment of NATO submarines and maritime reconnaissance aircraft engaged in spying on Russian submarines.
In NATO countries, especially in the USA, – explains Alexei Leonkov, – they are now actively monitoring the combat readiness of their nuclear arsenal. They recently conducted exercises in Europe, and the fact that Rhode Island and the Boeing E-6 Mercury arrived here almost at the same time can also be connected to these exercises.
An aircraft and a submarine – somehow he doesn’t seem to want to just do large-scale exercises …
NATO cannot conduct large-scale exercises – it is expensive. Therefore, they choose a place for exercises – preferably in Europe, take some forces that are easy to relocate and use them with the participation of local European military specialists. They process some episode in reality, and everything else – in the form of virtual management and staff exercises.
With such small forces, they try single episodes of global tasks. Furthermore, in the actual deployment of an exercise episode, for example, a B-52 bomber may impersonate several such bombers at once, and an F-16 aircraft may impersonate several fighters or even squadrons at once.
– And what tactical episode of such a global plan can the Americans simulate using the USS Rhode Island submarine and the Boeing E-6 Mercury Doomsday aircraft?
– This is an aircraft that can connect the submarine, for example, with the command of the US Navy in the Atlantic. By the way, according to many American documents and according to the American nuclear doctrine, the commander in the Atlantic has the right to use nuclear weapons routinely.
It is a fact. The Trident II missile in the D5 version can carry 12 tactical warheads. More precisely, even from 12 to 16 – depending on the power (from 5 to 150 kilotons).
– Turns out this Rhode Island is capable of carrying regular nuclear weapons
– Yes, that’s enough. After all, the Americans have a doctrine of limited nuclear war, which allows strikes with tactical nuclear weapons. At the same time, they abandoned sea-launched cruise missiles with tactical nuclear warheads. In their 2022 nuclear doctrine, this type of weapon is deleted. But the W76-2 warhead is mentioned, which is a low-yield thermonuclear warhead intended for use as part of submarine ballistic missile warheads.
So, the arrival of an American submarine in the Mediterranean does not bode well. And if we add the recent trip of the US presidential adviser Sullivan to Kyiv in the plane and the submarine, then we can assume that some kind of provocation with tactical nuclear weapons is being prepared in Ukraine. There is no smoke without fire.
