Russian submarines are number 1 but only ranked in the top 3
Although the US has repeatedly admitted that it cannot compare with Russia in terms of submarine power, according to the National Interest, Russian submarines are still ranked "inferior" to the US.
National Interest magazine has just published an article evaluating the 5 most powerful submarines in the world today, including 3 Russian submarines, but all are ranked behind American nuclear submarines.
According to the American magazine, among the 5 most destructive nuclear submarines in the world today, the first to mention is the Ohio-class submarine. The US Navy's Ohio-class submarine is capable of carrying 24 UGM-133 Trident II D5 ballistic missiles. Each of these missiles can carry up to 12 W88 nuclear warheads with a destructive power of 475 kilotons/warhead.
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| American nuclear submarine. |
The article asserts: "The Ohio-class submarines and their UGM-133 Trident II D5 missiles are capable of being used as preemptive strike weapons." The US Navy operates 14 Ohio-class submarines. Since 2016, nine of these submarines have been deployed in the Pacific Ocean and the remaining five in the Atlantic Ocean.
The submarine ranked 2nd in the top 5 according to the US assessment is Columbia - the future submarine of the US Navy. This class of ship is equipped with many modern technologies of the 21st century and can carry up to 16 UGM-133 Trident II D5 ballistic missiles.
After the first and second positions belonging to the US submarines, according to the analysis of National Interest, the remaining three positions all belong to Russian nuclear submarines. Specifically, the third position is the Borei ballistic missile submarine, followed by the Delta IV class submarine and the fifth position is the Russian Yasen.
Not only are Russian submarines ranked lower, but according to this magazine, although the Russian Navy is equipped with a series of modern diesel and nuclear submarines, it is still inferior to the US submarine fleet.
The article said that, up to now, the US Navy has a total of 14 ballistic missile submarines and 280 missiles containing nuclear warheads, each of which can wipe out a city.
There are also 4 submarines equipped with satellite-guided missiles with 154 Tomahawks/1 and 54 nuclear attack submarines. All US submarines are manufactured with state-of-the-art technology and heavy weapons.
Meanwhile, Russia has only 60 submarines, but that does not mean they are inferior. Russian submarines are not inferior in stealth capabilities to their Western counterparts, especially diesel-powered vessels known as "silent killers".
In addition, Russia is also developing new weapons for submarines, including nuclear torpedoes with the destructive power of hundreds of millions of tons of conventional explosives and can destroy a city. In particular, Russian crews are highly regarded and their level is increasingly improving.
After writing about the Russia-US balance, the National Interest magazine argued that Russia's technological improvements and rapid construction of shipbuilding facilities have made the ocean more dangerous for US submarines. However, the US submarine fleet still has the upper hand.
