Calling to foreign ports: a re-emerging practice for US nuclear-armed submarines? - Research and Documents No. 15/2023

The latest visit of the USS Kentucky (SSBN-737) to Busan, South Korea, on 18 July 2023 has gained media attention worldwide as it marked the first time a US ballistic missile submarine (SSBN) conducted a port visit to South Korea in four decades. During the Cold War, the US Navy arranged SSBN visits in foreign ports regularly, but post-Cold War the frequency of these calls has decreased significantly. However, even if the media still qualify them as 'rare' and 'unusual', port visits have started to become more prominent since 2015. This change of pattern raises questions on the rationale for this increase in port visits after the practice was almost given up for twenty years. This analysis describes the change of attitude of the US Navy towards sending its SSBN to foreign ports, sheds light on the reasons that pushed the United States to discontinue these operations and explains the importance of port visits in the current context. (authors)