- WASHINGTON (Reuters) -- The
U.S. Navy said on Tuesday it will base nuclear-powered attack submarines
on the Pacific island of Guam for the first time, a step emphasizing the
growing importance of Asia to the United States.
-
- The USS City of Corpus Christi, a Los Angeles Class attack
submarine with a crew of 150 sailors and officers, will arrive at the U.S.
possession this month and be followed by two other submarines before year's
end.
-
- The Navy's announcement came as President George W. Bush
considered whether to order a possible U.S. invasion of Iraq, but a Navy
spokeswoman stressed the move had been planned since before Washington
launched its war on terrorism in 2001.
-
- It also came as the Air Force considered possible increases
in its presence on Guam, where the U.S. military already has a major footprint.
The island, located three-quarters of the way from Hawaii to the Philippines,
served as a base for B-52 bombers during the Vietnam War.
-
- The attack submarines are designed to pursue and attack
enemy warships, but in recent years have become much more versatile with
their ability to carry long-range cruise missiles for use against land
targets.
-
- U.S. defense officials told Reuters that the submarine
shift was designed for efficiency because of the vast reaches of the Pacific
Ocean, but was also in line with a Pentagon push to give the military a
more visible forward presence in the Asia-Pacific region.
-
- "We lost key air and naval bases in the Philippines
several years ago and have been looking for ways to reclaim some of that
presence," said one of the officials, who asked not to be identified.
-
- Navy officials said the movement of the three submarines
could double their mission days because they would no longer have to travel
from the continental United States to arrive in patrol areas of the central
and western Pacific.
-
- "In essence, the country gains the equivalent of
three additional submarines for a very small cost," the Navy said
in a statement.
-
- Gen. William Begert, commander of Pacific Air Forces,
said in August he was pressing to put bombers, fighters and other warplanes
on the island of Guam amid U.S. concerns over China's growing military
might.
-
- The attack submarines will be supported by the submarine
tender USS Frank Cable, which is already based in Guam with a crew of 1,000
sailors who provide logistics and maintenance support for submarines and
their missions.
-
- The U.S. military already has a large presence on Guam.
While this is the first time the Navy is basing attack submarines on the
island, Guam was home port for some ballistic missile submarines in the
1960s and 1970s.
|
