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Salient. Victoria University Students' Newspaper. Volume 39, Number 25. October 4, 1976

U.S. Warheads in the Pacific

U.S. Warheads in the Pacific

The U.S.A. has between 8,000 and 12,000 warheads stored and deployed in the Pacific Basin. By comparison, the NATO forces in Europe have about 10,000 warheads, so we can see that the potential for a nuclear holocaust in the Pacific is as vast as it is in Europe.

The Pacific total includes 528 Strategic warheads on Polaris and Poseidon submarines in the Pacific, 3,156 warheads stored in Hawaii (figure inadvertantly released by US Navy in 1972), and 1,500 tactical warheads aboard the Pacific fleet. There are 122 ships in the Pacific fleet capable of carrying and firing nuclear weapons, and this includes of course the USS Truxtun and Longbeach.

The U S. Navy also has 108 nuclear capable Orion anti-submarine aricraft in the Pacific, and 576 Carrier borne nuclear capable aircraft.

The U.S. Air Force of course has a substantial preserve in the Pacific, including nuclear capable aircraft and warheads for them. And the U.S. Strategic Air Command also has about 75 B52 long range heavy nuclear bombers operating out of Guan.

Of course, one of the most important and lethal elements of both the U.S. and the Soviet military build-ups is the development of ballistic missile submarines. To complement its Polaris and Poseidon submarines, the US is planning to complete a new submarine system in the early 1980s. This is the Trident submarine system.