Kings Bay submarine base gets new missile training center

<p>The Navy has unveiled a new training center at the Kings Bay Naval Submarine Base that will teach sailors to launch Tomahawk missiles from four subs that are being renovated.</p><p>The new training center is the first one built at Kings Bay since 1989 when the first Trident submarine arrived, said Capt. Tim Lindstrom, chief of staff for Submarine Group 10.</p><p>"This is an important milestone," Lindstrom said. "It's the beginning of a new mission for us."</p><p>The first group of sailors who will serve on the subs will begin the eight-week course in July, the Navy said.</p><p>Sailors assigned as missile technicians to one of the four submarines _ which are undergoing renovations at shipyards in Washington state and Virginia _ will train at the center. The first of the converted subs, the USS Ohio, is scheduled to arrive in Bangor, Wash., this fall. The USS Florida is scheduled to arrive in Kings Bay in April.</p><p>Cmdr. Greg Ott, captain of the USS Florida, said the new mission for his boat is "the future of the submarine force."</p><p>The cost to refit the four boats is about $3.8 billion.</p><p>The training facility, which was unveiled Thursday, is housed in two rooms at Trident Training Center and includes equipment identical to what sailors will use once they are assigned to a submarine. Capt. Larry Davis, commanding officer at Trident Training Center, said sailors will face every possible scenario that can be imagined in a combat situation while using the Block IV missiles, the newest generation of Tomahawk missiles.</p><p>A similar training center is being built at a base in Bangor and is scheduled to open in September. The cost to build both centers is about $15 million, Navy officials said.</p><p>Besides its arsenal of 154 Tomahawk missiles, each of the four submarines will have a team of Navy SEALS or highly trained troops from other military branches that can conduct covert missions from a mini-sub attached to the larger sub's hull.</p><p>The Tomahawk missile has a range of 1,000 miles. The new Block IV missiles will be able to be reprogrammed to change course in mid-flight to strike a different target, Navy officials said.</p><p>___</p><p>HASH(0x1cdc0c0)</p>