US Navy vessels to hold Philippine port calls
Part of “routine” stops as the US 7th Fleet continue to widen its operation area
Manila: Three US Navy vessels are currently holding visits in various parts of the country as part of “routine” port calls as the US 7th Fleet continue to widen its area of operation to include the Philippines.
The submarine USS Ohio, the destroyer USS Decatur, and the submarine tender USS Frank Cable each made simultaneous port calls in Subic Bay in Zambales, the Port of Manila and in Cebu.
The three vessels play an important role in the defensive/offensive net of the United States by providing the US fleet with “forward presence” and is the proverbial sharp end of the spear of American defence.
At 170 metres in length and crewed by 150 sailors, the USS Ohio is the largest submarine in the US fleet. It was built originally as a platform for launching nuclear-warhead equipped Trident sea-launched ballistic missiles but in recent years it was retrofitted with sophisticated electronic equipment that enable it to serve the purpose as an attack submarine.
The USS Ohio, deployed in the Pacific, is capable of carrying Tomahawk cruise missiles equipped with nuclear warheads as well as a delivery system for 66 US special operations Navy Sea Air and Land Team or Marine commandos.
Commissioned in 1998, the 154 metre-long USS Decatur (DDG-73) is an Arleigh Burke-class destroyer carries a crew of more than 300 officers and enlisted sailors. Like the USS Ohio, the USS Decatur is equipped with Tomahawk cruise missiles. Equipped with the Aegis anti-missile defence system, it is also capable of eliminating surface threats such as ships and aircraft, as well as submarines.
According to the US Embassy the USS Frank Cable serves as the country’s 7th Fleet’s mobile repair and support platform. The submarine tender, which visited Subic in September last year, had a crew of 1,500.
The arrival of the three US Navy ships came at the heels of a visit made by Deputy Secretary of Defence Ash Carter to the Philippines late last week.
During his March 19 visit, Carter, the second highest ranking US Defence official, said the US stands behind the efforts of the Philippines to resolve the maritime disputes in the West Philippine Sea in a peaceful manner and consistent with the rule of law.
The visit of the US Navy ships also came amid reports that China has an on-going naval exercise in the South China sea involving several of its ships.
The US Navy had been increasingly active in Asia as it holds exercises of a scale and frequency comparable to that during the 1980s when it was engaged in the “Cold War” with the then Soviet Union.
However, instead of Soviet republics, the virtual chess game in Asia has a new key player, China.
