The U.S. Navy fired off a pair of Trident missiles on Sept. 17 from the ballistic missile submarine USS Wyoming off the coast of Florida. It was long scheduled, but played up big by the Daily Mail in London, per the new AUKUS triumphalism. The Daily Mail from posting the screaming headline “Biden‘s Warning to China: USS Wyoming Test Launches Trident II Nuclear Missiles Off Cape Canaveral after Beijing Warned of Nuclear War Risk over AUKUS Submarine Pact.”
However, the U.S. Navy press release stated, “This successful test was part of a Demonstration and Shakedown Operation, designated DASO-31. The primary objective of a DASO is to evaluate and demonstrate the readiness of the SSBN’s Strategic Weapon System (SWS) and crew before operational deployment following the submarine’s engineered refueling overhaul,” In other words, the sub went through a lengthy, scheduled overhaul and this was one of the final tests before it returns to service. The test launch was scheduled long ago and was part of the operational-maintenance life cycle of the submarine. (https://www.navy.mil/DesktopModules/ArticleCS/Print.aspx?PortalId=1&ModuleId=523&Article=2780845)
