Submarines in the era of unmanned systems can be quite vulnerable to threats while on the surface, both to attacks by naval drones and to strike UAVs. For example, the russians are so afraid of air strikes on their submarines that they have even equipped their nuclear-armed submarines, which are located 7,200 km from Ukraine, with UAV protection.
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In turn, the U.S. Navy has decided to publicly demonstrate what one option could be to protect its submarines from modern threats while performing tasks. We are talking about Ohio-class submarines, namely in this case the USS Nebraska (SSBN 739), which can carry UGM-133 Trident II D5 ballistic missiles with nuclear warheads.
Such targets can be of particular interest to U.S. adversaries. So the U.S. Navy has shown that it is ready to protect its valuable submarines from the air with the U.S. Air Force aircraft. This is reported by The Aviationist.
The U.S. Navy stressed that ballistic missile submarines remain a priority for the U.S. Department of War, and "their strategic importance necessitates the strongest protection available during critical surfaced operations."
In this particular case, as can be seen in the photo, the protection of the submarine USS Nebraska (SSBN 739) was provided by the legendary "veteran" attack aircraft A-10C Thunderbolt II.
Although this aircraft was created to provide direct air support for ground forces and to stop an invasion of russian tanks, it can really be useful for the destruction of such threats as uncrewed surface vehicles or strike unmanned aerial vehicles.
The A-10 previously received the ability to use high-precision APKWS missiles, which makes it a good "fighter" of unmanned platforms.
From the side of Defense Express, we note that another pressing issue is that the A-10 is soon to finally retire, so the role of the "protector" of submarines will not be able to perform for long.
Let us recall that the U.S. Air Force had been disputing Congress for years to retire these aircraft as soon as possible. However, the A-10s proved their effectiveness in the war with Iran, so in the end, their service will continue until 2030.
Read more: New Satellite Imagery Shows How russia Is Protecting Its Kalibr-Carrying Submarines in Novorossiysk
