US wary of china. Moving nuke subs.

Nuclear sub force to nearly double

Shift from Atlantic will bring 3 here

By Otto Kreisher
COPLEY NEWS SERVICE
and Steve Liewer
UNION-TRIBUNE STAFF WRITER

February 28, 2006

The nuclear attack-submarine force in San Diego will nearly double within four years, the Navy said yesterday.

Six submarines will move from the East Coast to the Pacific Fleet, the Navy said in a statement. Three will come to San Diego.

The shifts reflect a recently released defense analysis calling for an increased naval presence in the Pacific. The report, called the Quadrennial Defense Review, recommended that Navy officials place 60 percent of their submarine force in the Pacific, partly because of wariness over China's rapidly expanding naval force.

Attack submarines form the backbone of the Navy's underwater fleet. They are capable of launching torpedoes and Tomahawk cruise missiles, according to the military Web site globalsecurity.org. They can deploy special operations forces, lay mines, strike land-based targets and battle enemy subs.

facilities on the West Coast.

Majority Of Attack Subs Would Go To The Pacific
By Anthony Cronin

The Navy is proposing to move three submarines from the Naval Submarine Base in Groton to the West Coast over the next four years to meet increasing sub-related needs in the Pacific Rim region.

Navy officials have briefed congressmen from the states affected by the sub plan, which calls for 60 percent of the nation's nuclear-attack submarines to be committed to the Pacific region by 2010. The Navy plan envisions a 52-sub fleet in four years, with 21 attack submarines stationed at either the Groton base or Norfolk, Va., and the remaining 31 subs stationed at Pacific ports ranging from San Diego to Pearl Harbor and Guam.

A Navy official who requested anonymity said Monday that the planned 60-40 percent split in submarines committed to the Pacific and Atlantic oceans is consistent with the views expressed in the Pentagon's Quadrennial Defense Review, which was released earlier this month and serves as the Pentagon's comprehensive report on its future defense needs.

The defense report advocates boosting both aircraft carrier and submarine presence in the Pacific Ocean because of growing global commerce in that region, as well as threats to national security. Congress mandates that the so-called QDR be completed every four years.

The Navy currently has a fleet of 53 attack submarines, 28 of which are stationed at its two East Coast bases in Groton and Norfolk. Twenty-five subs are spread across Pacific bases in Bangor, Wash.; San Diego; Pearl Harbor; and Guam.

The Navy official said the proposed redeployment of some submarines also reflects the Navy's shift from a “one size fits all” notion of deterrence to one that is more tailor-made to today's global needs and threats from military competitors and terrorist networks.

Under the plans disclosed to congressmen, the Groton base's fleet of 17 would be reduced by three, to 14 submarines by 2010. The Norfolk attack-sub fleet would be downsized from 11 to seven submarines –– meaning the current 28-sub Atlantic force would be reduced to 21 subs.
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