Ballistic missile submarine

So for the moment, I think that there is no need to focus too much, let's say, on this idea of forward deploying nuclear weapons.

What we want to do is really to get the Allies used to the French nuclear culture by, you know, visits to nuclear bases, to nuclear sites, to SSBNs, and also joint exercises with the French, mostly the French Strategic Air Force, tabletop exercises.

A bit like what the U.S. is doing mostly with Japan and South Korea.

So no nuclear weapons being deployed, but a strong U.S. conventional presence in the two countries, extended deterrence dialogues, kind of stuff.

And that's when I really started becoming aware on that submarine, a lot of bizarre things that we were doing.

And then the following and that one after that as well, you know, an SSBN was my next one after that, but it was doing things that SSBNs definitely are supposed to be there to launch their missiles, not doing what that one was doing.

You're supposed to run away from everything and hide it.

We weren't doing that.

Now, I think this is particularly the case in, say, choke points or areas that can be set up as trip lines for an adversary.

Maybe not so much the case that's the sanctuary of the Great Big Ocean for our SSBNs, but we're going to have to continue to work on it.

And I think we'll have to adapt and we'll have to bring just continue to be smart about how we use acoustic magnetic countermeasures, deploying decoy UUV, shifting our TTPs, our operating tactics to accommodate for this.

But it does chew away at our margin.

And they're trying to make some openings so that they can get the astute class updated the way they need to be, because that's been a huge headache for the British is not having enough nuclear certified shipyard space available.

They need the attack submarines way more than they need the, the, the SSBNs right now.

So that's what I think is going on.

I don't think this reflects anything other than that.

Of course, there are two types of nuclear powered submarines.

There are SSNs and SSBNs.

SSNs are fast attack boats.

You can call them the fighter aircraft, you know, deployed underwater.

And the SSBNs are called by the Americans, boomers, which I think is a decent way of describing what they are.

It's a decent way of describing us as well.

Yeah.

Actually, or building the Amka before you build the Kiran trainer.

And so there's also these submarines called what we call boomers.

They're SSBNs, ballistic missile nuclear submarines.

These are the ones that have nuclear missiles on them.

And they're different.

Really, really small.

So those SSBNs, basically what they do, they hide themselves extremely well because the ocean is just so massive and it's really difficult to find them.

They know how to basically operate and move like ghosts.

They know how to emit nothing.

So the Brits and the French are very, very closely cooperated.

Well, first of all, because the French nuclear deterrence is an independent nuclear deterrent.

Like everything, like the SSBNs, the cruise missiles, that the FAS, the Force Aérienne Stratégique, that they use, the French, everything is actually made in France.

It's conceived this way, it's built this way, whereas in the British case, everything is actually built in the U.S.

We talked about it in 23.

We need to upload the SSBNs.

We need to also open four tubes that were sealed up on the SSBNs as a result of New START.

We need to upload some Minuteman.

We haven't done any of those things.

Um, the, the difference, though, the stark difference, is how much Putin has put into this special military operation.

And we get to the point that I'm so scared about, and I mean scared, um, we get to the point where both sides have so little capacity remaining other than that maximum capacity that each of these sides has in their nuclear weapons, and we're talking about 12,000, 13,000 warheads between the two, and the instruments to deliver them in all manner of ranges and payloads, most deafening of which, most incredible of which, are our strategic missile sub- um, strategic ballistic missile submarines, SSBNs.

Uh, when you get to that point, and both sides are desperate enough to have to use that, and that blue suiter scares me in that regard, he always has, all blue suiters, uh, scare me in that regard, then you're asking for Armageddon, truly asking for Armageddon.

That's not a point you want to get to.