Posted on 10/20/2017 9:13:20 AM PDT by sukhoi-30mki
The Krasnodar, a Russian attack submarine, left the coast of Libya in late May, headed east across the Mediterranean, then slipped undersea, quiet as a mouse. Then, it fired a volley of cruise missiles into Syria.
In the days that followed, the diesel-electric sub was pursued by the aircraft carrier USS George H.W. Bush, its five accompanying warships, MH-60R Seahawk helicopters and P-8 Poseidon anti-sub jets flying out of Italy.
The U.S. and its allies had set out to track the Krasnodar as it moved to its new home in the Black Sea. The missile attack upended what had been a routine voyage, and prompted one of the first U.S. efforts to track a Russian sub during combat since the Cold War. Over the next weeks, the sub at points eluded detection in a sea hunt that tested the readiness of Western allies for a new era in naval warfare.
An unexpected resurgence in Russian submarine development, which deteriorated after the breakup of the Soviet Union, has reignited the undersea rivalry of the Cold War, when both sides deployed fleets of attack subs to hunt for rival submarines carrying nuclear-armed ballistic missiles.
When underwater, enemy submarines are heard, not seen—and Russia brags that its new subs are the world’s quietest. The Krasnodar is wrapped in echo-absorbing skin to evade sonar; its propulsion system is mounted on noise-cutting dampers; rechargeable batteries drive it in near silence, leaving little for sub hunters to hear. “The Black Hole,” U.S. allies call it.
“As you improve the quieting of the submarines and their capability to move that much more stealthily through the water, it makes it that much harder to find,” said U.S. Navy Capt. Benjamin Nicholson, of Destroyer Squadron 22, who oversees surface and undersea warfare for the USS Bus
(Excerpt) Read more at wsj.com ...
If it ain’t got a pool, then it’s no damned good.
No worries. The Navy is ready to fight the last war.
Ignoring hypersonic missiles won’t make them go away. It might take a sunk supercarrier to get the brass out of its gender study mindset.
Finding subs even when they made some noise back in the cold war was a challenge. With very quiet battery driven systems, unless he comes up to charge on diesel, this guy is probably very much a ghost. The US does not maintain much for defense against the non-nuclear sub threat, mostly because battery/diesels traditionally don’t go blue water much. But todays battles are not blue water, they are coastal. I hope todays Navy is working on this threat, but I have doubts given the people in charge the last decade.
Paywall. What’s the go around?
Someone said the Navy knows the name of every Rooskie captain and the names of their wives and kids.
The Krasnasdor is an improved Kilo class diesel-electric sub. The Russians have no qualms about selling Kilos to other countries including China and Iran.
It’s STILL a DE sub and must surface every 7-10 days, minimum for a day or two to recharge.
Dead meat when it does.
However, for the 7-10 days in the littorals, it’s damn deadly.
The US would do well to build a couple of dozen such boats for $400-$500 million each. They would patrol the Med, South China Sea, Baltic Sea and the Persian Gulf.
Our Virginia Class nukes are NOT the best boats patrolling those areas.
Not only that, dipping active sonar can sometimes rat them out....if we choose to show our hand.
Behind a paywall...
The problem isn't the people: With what are they supposed to work on it? They don't have the money for adequate maintenance or crew training as it is.
We’re chasing a sub with an aircraft carrier? Or are we using the carrier’s ASW assets and the carrier is staying within it’s screen? Something doesn’t sound right there.
The Kilo does not run on AIP but the next class, Lada, suppose to incorporate AIP technology.
You meant to reply to #4.
“Someone said the Navy knows the name of every Rooskie captain and the names of their wives and kids.”
And they know ours. Long ago the USSR used to publish the names of intelligent school graduates. They knew every one of us by name, profession, and assignments. We classified that information but they knew every bit of it. They also knew that they knew because they would physically verify it using human spies.
An AC means a carrier group which has a complement of both subs and air craft who can track boomers. Part of the reason an air craft carrier is in a group is defensive and offensive capabilities.
Diesel electric sub drones are the future in coastal patrols.
I'd say it's sound-absorbing, so that it doesn't create an echo in the first place. But perhaps that's just me.
OH yes.
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