First lady Jill Biden ceremonially commissioned a nuclear-powered submarine on Saturday, presiding over a display of U.S. naval power with tension between Washington and Moscow at the highest levels since the depths of the Cold War.
The USS Delaware, commissioned two years ago as the nation’s 18th Virginia-class attack submarine, made a port call in President Joe Biden’s hometown of Wilmington, Delaware, this weekend for a ceremony that was delayed by the pandemic.
The Virginia class is the pillar of the U.S. Navy’s undersea strategy into the second half of the 21st century. The boats can strike underwater and surface targets with torpedoes or attack sea and land-based targets with Tomahawk cruise missiles, while remaining on patrol for months. By 2028, the Navy wants to deploy next-generation hypersonic weapons on the subs.
