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If China's satellites and spies were working properly, there would have been a flood of unsettling intelligence flowing into the Beijing headquarters of the Chinese navy last week. A new class of U.S. superweapon had suddenly surfaced nearby. It was an Ohio-class submarine, which for decades carried only nuclear missiles targeted against the Soviet Union, and then Russia. But this one was different: for nearly three years, the U.S. Navy has been dispatching modified "boomers" to who knows where (they do travel underwater, after all). Four of the 18 ballistic-missile subs no longer carry nuclear-tipped Trident missiles. Instead, they hold up to 154 Tomahawk cruise missiles each, capable of hitting anything within 1,000 miles with non-nuclear warheads.

Their capability makes watching these particular submarines especially interesting. The 14 Trident-carrying subs are useful in the unlikely event of a nuclear Armageddon, and Russia remains their prime target. But the Tomahawk-outfitted quartet carries a weapon that the U.S. military has used repeatedly against targets in Afghanistan, Bosnia, Iraq and Sudan.
(See pictures of the U.S. military in the Pacific.)

That's whyalarm bells would have sounded in Beijing on June 28 when the Tomahawk-laden 560-ft. U.S.S. Ohio popped up in the Philippines' Subic Bay. More alarms were likely sounded when the U.S.S. Michigan arrived in Pusan, South Korea, on the same day. And the Klaxons would have maxed out as the U.S.S. Florida surfaced, also on the same day, at the joint U.S.-British naval base on Diego Garcia, a flyspeck of an island in the Indian Ocean. In all, the Chinese military awoke to find as many as 462 new Tomahawks deployed by the U.S. in its neighborhood. "There's been a decision to bolster our forces in the Pacific," says Bonnie Glaser, a China expert at the Center for Strategic and International Studies in Washington. "There is no doubt that China will stand up and take notice."


Read more: http://www.time.com/time/nation/article/0,...s#ixzz0tMloVnJv

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USS Blue Ridge arrives at Manila Bay.

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By Jerry E. Esplanada
Philippine Daily Inquirer
First Posted 02:45:00 09/04/2010

Filed Under: Military, Security (general)
MANILA, Philippines—While Hong Kong tourists are avoiding Manila fearful of falling victim to another hostage-taking similar to the Aug. 23 incident at Luneta, the 7,000-plus sailors of the USS George Washington carrier group are apparently unperturbed.

The nuclear-powered American carrier and its warship-escorts are scheduled to drop anchor at Manila Bay this morning for a four-day goodwill visit.

In a statement, the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) yesterday said the Philippine government had given “clearance” to the US naval carrier fleet to visit the country.

The DFA noted that during the ship’s port call here in August 2009 “around $7 million (P313 million in today’s exchange rates) were spent [by the American sailors and pilots] in hotel bookings, sight-seeing, shopping and other activities.”

“Some of the crew’s family members also visited the country to meet up with their loved ones,” said DFA spokesperson J. Eduardo Malaya.

flipzi

Sep 5 2010, 07:47 AM

ELLO JOE USS George Washington, an American nuclear-powered supercarrier, drops anchor off Manila Bay at daybreak Saturday. ARNOLD ALMACEN, INQUIRER.NET

Fellows,

Will they allow a free tour inside the GW?

I want to see it too.