US adds nuclear-powered submarine to Guam outpost as China rivalry grows

The Virginia-class vessel is the first of its kind to be deployed at the strategic military base, which is closer to Beijing than Hawaii

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The Virginia-class USS Minnesota arrives at US Naval Base Guam on Tuesday. Photo: US Navy

Published: 12:00pm, 27 Nov 2024Updated: 10:34pm, 27 Nov 2024

The US has deployed one of its newest nuclear-powered, fast-attack submarines to Guam – the first vessel of its class to be based at the strategic military outpost – in a strengthening of its power projection in the face of growing rivalry with China.

The Virginia-class USS Minnesota, based in Hawaii since 2022, arrived at its new home port on Tuesday in what the US Navy described as its “strategic laydown plan for naval forces in the Indo-Pacific region”.

It joins Submarine Squadron 15’s fleet of Los Angeles-class fast-attack submarines, all of which were commissioned in the early 1990s.

According to the squadron’s commander Neil Steinhagen, the USS Minnesota is an “exceptional addition” to the forward-deployed submarine force in Guam.

“Its presence will enhance our operational capabilities and further strengthen deterrence efforts throughout the Indo-Pacific,” he said in a US Navy statement issued on Tuesday.

The USS Minnesota, commissioned in 2013, is the 10th submarine in the US Navy’s Virginia-class fleet that was designed to replace the ageing Los Angeles-class vessels.