Text Fwd: US Missile Submarines Operate At Cold War Levels

* Informed in StopNATO*
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Same as original article below:

'(Mar. 16) - The USS Wyoming, a ballistic missile submarine, returns to its Georgia port in January (U.S. Navy photo).'

http://www.globalsecuritynewswire.org/gsn/nw_20090316_6606.php
Global Security Network
Federation of American Scientists
March 16, 2009
U.S. Missile Submarines Sustain Active Schedule
Hans Kristensen

The United States continues to operate its nuclear-armed submarines at rates
similar to Cold War levels and conducts more missile submarine patrol missions
than the rest of the world's nuclear powers combined, according to an analysis
by the Federation of American Scientists (see GSN, Feb. 20).

U.S. Ohio-class submarines conducted 31 patrols last year, said FAS nuclear
expert Hans Kristensen, who acquired the data from the Navy through the Freedom
of Information Act. While the total number of patrols has dropped significantly
from a high in 1967, the pace of operations for each submarine has remained
comparable. Each submarine is on patrol for 70-90 percent of the year, compared
to 50-60 percent during the Cold War.

The United States fields 14 ballistic missile submarines, two of which are
generally being overhauled at any one time. Among the other dozen, eight or nine
boats are on patrol and the rest are preparing for their next patrol, according
to Kristensen. The average patrol lasts 72 days, although some missions have
gone past 100 days.

Each submarine has two designated crews, so that when one patrol finishes, a new
crew can step in, refit the boat and deploy again within a few weeks.

Boats on patrol are not necessarily performing a nuclear deterrent mission at
all times, although the Navy tries to maintain two submarines each in the
Pacific and Atlantic oceans conducting such operations, Kristensen said.

Four other nations - France, China, Russia and the United Kingdom - have
nuclear-armed submarines, but they conduct slightly more than 20 patrols per
year combined. China has the least developed submarines and has never conducted
a deterrent patrol, according to Kristensen.
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