海上 727 天：美国海军俄亥俄级 SSGN 导弹潜艇打破了所有规则

The United States Navy called it an accomplishment when the USS Florida (SSGN-728) returned from a 727-day submarine patrol covering 70,000 miles — the longest undersea deployment in American naval history.It was actually a confession that the U.S. Navy is running out of submarines at the exact moment Chinese People’s Liberation Army Navy submarine forces are expanding rapidly.

The Ohio-Class SSGN Submarines Keep Proving Their Worth

A recent seven-minute-long propaganda video celebrating the birthday of China’s People’s Liberation Army Navy (PLAN) prominently featured the PLAN’s growing submarine force. Clearly, Beijing wants the world to understand that it is no longer just a continental power.

Indeed, China’s elite want people everywhere–especially in Washington, D.C.–to know that the PLAN is a major submarine force. Meanwhile, the United States is enduring a systemic naval shipyard crisis that is deeply harming its submarine force, both in terms of readiness and size.

And America’s submarines have never been more in demand than they have been in the last few years, especially with the Ukraine War and the Iran War raging.

US submarines are so important for deterrence and strike missions that the Pentagon sent the Ohio-class guided missile submarine (SSGN) USS Florida (SSGN-728) on a whirlwind 727-day patrol around the world a few years back.

This patrol broke records and got the gallant crew of the Florida many accolades. But this mission highlighted how desperate the situation is for America’s submarine force. After all, without the Navy pushing the Florida to its operational limits on this historic extended worldwide deterrence patrol, the Navy would have been unable to conduct any deterrent patrol at all due to the submarine shortage the fleet is undergoing.

俄亥俄级 SSGN。图片来源：美国海军。

俄亥俄级 SSGN 发射战斧对地攻击导弹的艺术概念图。

Hence, Congress converted a handful of SSBNs into SSGNs.

Ohio-Class SSGN Submarine U.S. Navy.