December 25 2020
The US appears to be sending a message to Iran in the form of a military show of tremendous firepower.
As the submarine USS Georgia sailed into the Persian Gulf, the US Navy made sure everyone knew it—a rare action as submarine movements are normally kept under wraps.
The US Air Force also sent B-52 bombers flying from bases in the United States and back again without landing to show their range.
For the first time in eight years, the Navy announced the presence of a guided-missile submarine in the Persian Gulf. The statement included pictures and emphasized the sub-marine’s firepower in what was obviously an effort to impress the Islamic Republic with what the United States could do to respond to any military action Iran might take.
The ships entered the Persian Gulf December 21, two weeks before the January 3 anniversary of the US assassination of Maj. Gen. Qasem Soleymani.
In the last few weeks, officials of the Islamic Republic have been making almost daily references to their intention to retaliate for Soleymani’s death. US officials suspect their plan is to act on January 3 as the regime commonly takes major actions on anniversary dates.
The submarine was accompanied by the guided-missile cruisers USS Port Royal and USS Philippine Sea, the Navy said in a statement. Both of those ships are of the same class as the USS Vincennes, which shot down an Iranian passenger jet in 1988. That added an extra dollop of nastiness to the ships entering the Persian Gulf.
The statement on the USS Georgia’s activities marks the first time since 2012 that the Navy has announced the presence of a guided-missile submarine in the Persian Gulf.
Missile submarines like USS Georgia are armed with more conventional combat firepower than any other US naval vessel. These submarines carry 154 Tomahawk land-attack cruise missiles (TLAMs), subsonic missiles used for long-range strikes deep within enemy territory. They became famous during the first Gulf War in 1991 when the TV cameras they carried on board revealed their precision as they flew into targeted buildings through windows.
These submarines have 22 missile tubes with seven Tomahawks in each one, and each missile has a range of about 2,500 kilometers (1,550 miles), which means that from the Persian Gulf the missiles can strike any part of Iran. Since the first Gulf War, 2,193 Tomahawks have been fired in 17 confrontations. It is clearly the preferred weapon of the US military because of its precision.
The Tomahawk flies less than the speed of sound and could be shot down, if it can be located. But the missile flies at an altitude of just 30 to 50 meters (100 to 165 feet). It reads the ground just ahead of it and maneuvers to maintain its low altitude.
The guided-missile submarines can also be configured to support up to 66 special operations troops with the addition of an Advanced SEAL Delivery System or dry deck shelter. In the photos the Navy released, such an attachment can be seen mounted on top, behind the sub’s mast.
The cruisers that sailed with the USS Georgia carry a lot of firepower as well.
The Georgia entering the Persian Gulf was the fourth “message” the US has sent Iran in the last month.
First, it dispatched the carrier USS Nimitz into the Persian Gulf in mid-November. Then, in late November and mid-December, it twice sent a pair of B-52H Stratofortress bombers from Louisiana and North Dakota to the Persian Gulf and back without landing to demonstrate the ability of the US to attack Iran from the United States itself, without relying on bases in the region. The huge, eight-engined bombers can carry 32,000 kilograms (70,000 pounds) of ordnance, more than any other aircraft in the world.
A fifth message came later from President Trump in one of his Twitter tirades after more than 20 rockets, an unusually large number, were fired into Baghdad’s Green Zone, where the US embassy is located, although the embassy itself was not hit. Trump tweeted, “Our embassy in Baghdad got hit Sunday [December 20] by several rockets. Guess where they came from: IRAN. Now we hear chatter about additional attacks against Americans in Iraq….
“Some friendly health advice to Iran: If one American is killed, I will hold Iran responsible. Think it over.” That is the same threat, exactly, that Trump issued last December. When an American contractor was killed a few days later in a rocket attack, Trump ordered the killing of Soleymani.
Commenting on the strategic bomber flights, a senior military official told NBC News that there is an elevated risk of miscalculation and possible conflict with Iran and explained that the purpose of the flights is “to ensure that, if they are contemplating some sort of an aggressive act, they would think twice about it before they did it.”
Neither the Navy nor CENTCOM has said whether the deployment of the USS Georgia to the Persian Gulf is intended to serve the same purpose.
Meanwhile, Israel sent one of its submarines through the Suez Canal, with news reports saying it was headed for the Persian Gulf. Israeli subs are diesel-powered, not nuclear, like the US subs.