US deploys guided-missile submarine to Middle East

The US Navy has deployed a guided-missile submarine capable of carrying up to 154 Tomahawk missiles to the Middle East, a spokesman said Saturday. The submarine crossed the Suez Canal Friday.The Navy rarely acknowledges the location or deployment of submarines. Cmdr.

Timothy Hawkins, a spokesman for the 5th Fleet based in the Gulf nation of Bahrain, declined to comment on the submarine's mission or what had prompted the deployment.He said the nuclear-powered submarine was based out of Kings Bay, Georgia.