The Pacific Fleet Submarine Force took the unusual step this month of announcing that all of its forward-deployed subs were simultaneously conducting “contingency response operations” at sea in the Western Pacific — downplaying the notion that Navy forces have been hampered by COVID-19, the Honolulu Star Advertiser reports.
The sub force said the missions were mounted in support of the Pentagon’s “free and open Indo- Pacific” policy aimed at countering China’s expansionism in the South China Sea.
