Within the next few weeks, the U.S. Navy plans to begin converting the USS Ohio — the first and oldest Trident ballistic missile submarine — to carry conventionally armed cruise missiles, the Associated Press reported today (see GSN, Sept. 27).

The Ohio will undergo the $900 million, 18-month conversion process at the Puget Sound Naval Shipyard in Bremerton, Wash.  Once the conversion is completed, the Ohio will be able to carry more than 150 Tomahawk cruise missiles and other equipment, instead of 24 long-range ballistic missiles it now carries, according to AP.  The Ohio is one of four U.S. Trident submarines being converted to carry conventional weapons (see GSN, Feb. 22).

“This is an historic event,” said Capt. Stan Mack, chief of staff of the Ohio submarine group.  “The military in general and the submarine force in particular is sometimes accused of preparing for the last war and being Cold War-centered.  The USS Ohio is the answer to that accusation” (Associated Press, Oct. 2).

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