For the first time in decades, a nuclear-armed US Navy submarine has been spotted. Experts had no doubt that it was a manifestation of powers. The ship that appeared near North Korea is an Ohio-class submarine – in the Navy it is called the Boomer.

It is armed with 20 Trident nuclear missiles and usually operates in a covert mode. Thomas Shugart, a former U.S. Navy submarine captain who now works as an analyst at the Center for New American Security, admitted that the ship’s existence was “news.”

He told CNN we could stop 100 different nuclear warheads at your fingertips, and you wouldn’t even know or be able to do anything about it.

The appearance of the American warship has a reason. This came in response to North Korea’s recent missile test, which recently launched a supersonic Mach 10 missile. This task is also related to tensions between China and Taiwan and the development of a nuclear submarine fleet at the initiative of Beijing.

The movements of nuclear-armed units are a closely guarded secret, and their patrols typically last 77 days. Outside their home ports of Bangor, Washington, and Kings Bay, Georgia, they are hard to see.

The Navy said in a statement that the visit “reflects the United States’ commitment to the Indo-Pacific region.” The ship’s presence “complements the numerous exercises, operations, training, and military cooperation activities undertaken by the Strategic Forces to ensure that they are available and ready to operate anywhere in the world at all times.”