no anti-ballistic missiles. George Washingtons missiles could be fired while the boat was submerged, meaning that it was far less likely to be detected before firing. The nuclear power of the boat also meant that, like Nautilus, George Washingtons patrol length was limited only by the amount of food the boat could carry. Ballistic missile submarines, carrying Polaris missiles, eventually superseded all other strategic nuclear systems in the Navy. Deterrent patrols continue to this day, although now with s and Trident II missiles. The United States lost two nuclear submarines during the Cold War: due to equipment failure during a test dive while at its operational limit, and due to unknown causes. Post–Cold War (1991–present) Given the lack of large scale conventional naval warfare since 1945, with the USN's role being primarily that of power projection, the submarine service did not fire weapons in anger for very many years. The BGM-109 Tomahawk Land Attack Missile (TLAM) was developed to give naval vessels a long range land attack capability other than direct shore bombardment and strikes by aircraft flying off carriers. Submarines fitted with the Tomahawk could hit targets up to 1,000 miles inland. The mainstay of the Tomahawk equipped vessels in the early days of the missile's deployment were the , and the submarine fleet. The Tomahawk was first used in combat on 17 January 1991, on the opening night of Operation Desert Storm. On that day, for the first time since the surrender of Japan in 1945, an American submarine fired in combat, when 12 Tomahawks were launched by U.S. boats in the eastern Mediterranean. Since then, the Tomahawk has become a staple of American campaigns, seeing use in three wars. It has also been exported to the United Kingdom, which has also fitted it to submarines. The use of the Tomahawk has seen a change in the design of attack submarines. The Tomahawk can be fired through 21-inch torpedo tubes, but the and s since have been fitted with vertical launch systems to enable them to carry more of the weapons. With the decommissioning of the final Barbel-class diesel-electric submarine in 1990, this meant that the USN submarine fleet is made up entirely of nuclear-powered vessels; each submarine possesses one nuclear reactor, which powers propulsion and all shipboard equipment. Composition of the current force (29 in commission, 2 in reserve) – fast attack submarines (18 in commission) –