Within Striking Range: US Bases Los Angeles-class, Virginia-class Attack Sub in Guam

The following piece, written by Jim Morris, first appeared on Warrior Maven, a Military Content Group member website.

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The US may be sending another message to China by reportedly sending two nuclear-powered submarines  to the western Pacific.

According to Newsweek, official Navy photos show the USS Columbia (SSN-771) and the USS Vermont (SSN-792) visited Guam in January while being deployed with the Seventh Fleet. Neither the Navy nor Beijing are commenting.

Guam is a crucial outpost for US power projection in the Indo-Pacific – it’s America’s westernmost Pacific island territory and is closer to Beijing than to Hawaii. That puts it within striking distance of a number of Chinese military bases including some in the South China Sea.

The US is in the midst of a military buildup on Guam, which includes $10 billion in construction projects through 2028. In 2023, the Marines opened a base there that will eventually house 4,000 troops.

In November, the Navy said that for the first time, a Virginia-class fast-attack submarine would be homeported in Guam, which has one of the Navy’s largest fuel and ammunition storage facilities in the region. The sub, the USS Minnesota (SSN-783), arrived there November 26.

One of the subs that visited Guam in January, the Vermont, is a Virginia-class vessel. The Columbia is an older, Los Angeles-class boat. The Virginia-class subs are designed to replace the Los Angeles-class vessels as the older ones are taken out of service.

A China military expert at the Center for Strategic and International Studies, Brian Hart, told Newsweek that the US fast-attack subs are a major threat to the Chinese Navy, the world’s largest. He said there is a “considerable capability gap” that favors the US – despite China’s recent submarine building spree.

In November, the Wall Street Journal reported that recent Chinese advances in submarines could have severe implications in case of a conflict with Taiwan.

In 2023, according to the Journal, China debuted a submarine that for the first time used a noise-reducing pump-jet propulsion system. That’s similar to the system used by US subs. Experts said it would allow the Chinese vessels to evade detection by US submarines and aircraft.

Meanwhile, China reportedly is building an “underwater great wall” of sensors to detect enemy ships.

All that could increase the difficulty of US vessels coming to the aid of Taiwan in case of a Chinese incursion. Currently, according to the Journal, US simulations of a conflict assume that American submarines operating near the Taiwan Strait would track down and sink Chinese warships.