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China has lately been resorting to defiant and audacious acts like claiming its territorial rights over waters around artificial island it has built in the Spratly Islands in the South China Sea and unilaterally designating an air defense identification zone in the East China Sea. While these acts are visible to all, the real front battle line lies deep in the sea where submarines are principal players. This article attempts to provide in-depth descriptions of the real picture of submarines of the Maritime Self-Defense Force and their roles, as little has so far been made known about them. During the...

While the eyes of the world are on ISIS, Russia is creating weapons unlike anything the world has ever seen before. Plans for a giant self-propelled nuclear torpedo that can create a giant tsunami more than 1,000 feet tall were recently "leaked by mistake" by the Russian media. Apparently the warheads on these torpedos are designed to create so much radiation "that everything living will be killed" - including those that try to survive the attack by hiding in underground shelters. These "robotic mini-submarines" would have a range of up to 10,000 kilometers and would be able to evade all...

SYDNEY – All three bidders competing for a 50 billion Australian dollars ($35.3 billion) submarine contract have been targeted by Chinese and Russian cyberattacks, according to local media reports. The submarine builders in France, Germany and Japan have all been provided with the highly confidential technical requirements for the Royal Australian Navy’s new submarines, which will form the basis for each country’s proposal. Manfred Klein, campaign manager of German shipbuilder ThyssenKrupp Marine Systems, told The Australian newspaper, “We have about 30 to 40 (hacking) attempts per night, that’s what our IT people say.” The bidders declined to publicly say which...

A Japanese Soryu Class submarine pictured at sea. Picture: Supplied Source: Supplied JAPAN summoned a submarine back from sea trials to give The Advertiser an exclusive look inside as they dramatically boost their efforts to win the Future Submarines contract. Of the three contenders for the project, Japan has been the most secretive, fuelling speculation they would be difficult to work with and reluctant to share sensitive defence technology. However, they recently confirmed they would share all their technology and this week opened the hatch to a range of South Australians. Visitors were welcomed with Australian flags, officials sporting kangaroo...

The Navy is investigating adding an anti-ship missile to its submarine force — bringing it inline with the majority of the world naval submarines, the director of Naval Reactors said on Wednesday. In response to a question from the audience at the 2015 Naval Submarine League Symposium, Adm. Frank Caldwell said the Navy was exploring adding the capability to the fleet. “For this audience, I’ll tell you we are considering that and we are taking some some steps to delivering that kind of capability to our submarine force and I can’t really say anymore than that,” he said. The U.S....

NEW DELHI: It has been called a "hole in the water," a submarine so quiet that detecting it is often impossible for even the most advanced navies. For years, the Russian designed 'Kilo' class submarine was the ace in the pack of the Indian Navy. It would stealthily monitor warships traversing the waters of the Arabian Sea and the Bay of Bengal. And for years, the Indian Navy flatly refused to give foreign forces a chance to train against the 'Kilo' class, nine of which are in service. Doing so would have given them a chance to potentially detect and...

Over the past two decades, the People’s Republic of China has made great advances in its military capabilities. However, it still lags woefully behind in developing nuclear-powered submarines. The problem for the Chinese is that they lack the necessary quieting and propulsion technologies to build anything remotely comparable to an American or Russian nuclear submarine. Even the newest Chinese Jin-class ballistic nuclear missile submarines and improved Shang-class nuclear attack submarines are louder than 1970s-era Soviet-built Victor III-class attack submarine or the Delta III-class boomer, according to the U.S. Navy’s Office of Naval Intelligence. In fact, even China’s forthcoming Type 95...

Indonesian defense official have expressed interest in purchasing French-built Scorpene-class 1000 diesel-electric attack submarines (SSK) IHS Jane’s Navy International reports. Representatives of the French shipbuilder DCNS, the company offering the boats, confirmed Indonesian-French government-to-government talks at this year’s Pacific 2015 International Maritime Exhibition currently taking place in Sydney, Australia. “The talks are going on at the government-to-government level, mostly to discuss the needs of the Indonesian Navy,” according to a DCNS representative interviewed by IHS Jane’s Navy International. “So far, what the Indonesians have identified is the need for a complementary submarine fleet that can fill in the gaps of...

Japan has offered to build Aus­tralia a larger version of its ultra- stealthy 4000-tonne Soryu, or Blue Dragon, submarine to ­dramatically increase its range. The “enhanced” Soryu diesel-electric submarine, which could be built in Australia, would be powered by a new and safer generation of highly efficient lithium ion ­batteries developed by Japanese engineers. The 88m long Soryu would be extended with the ­addition of a new hull section 6-8m long, which would be placed behind the submarine’s fin, The Australian was told in a briefing yesterday. Japan, which is one of three contenders bidding to build Australia’s submarines, has...

ISLAMABAD: China will build in Karachi four of eight submarines that it is selling to Pakistan. Minister for Defence Production Rana Tanveer Hussain told at the inauguration of the Defence Export Promotion Organisation (DEPO) Display Centre in the federal capital that the deal for the acquisition of submarines from China had been finalised and four of them would be built here. He further said that construction of the submarines would simultaneously begin in Pakistan and China. China, he said, would transfer the technology to Pakistan for submarine construction. The implementation of the agreement would augment the existing submarine related capacity....

NEW DELHI: For the first time India has options when it comes to finding a partner to build a military nuclear asset. Besides Russia, ship builders from France and the US have started initial conversations with the defence ministry on participating in an Indian effort to build a new class of nuclear-powered attack submarines. Russia has been the traditional ally of India when it comes to sensitive technology and strategic systems. But a Navy plan for constructing six new nuclear-powered attack submarines (SSNs) to patrol the Indian Ocean Region (IOR) and beyond has prompted 'discussions' with the two western nations,...

America's most advanced nuclear submarine was slicing through the water off Hawaii last month, 400 feet under the surface, when a sonar operator suddenly detected an ominous noise on his headphones. It was a faint thump … thump … thump — the distinctive sound of a spinning, seven-bladed propeller on a Chinese attack submarine called a Shang by the Pentagon and its allies. A neon green stripe on his sonar screen indicated that the Shang was only a few thousand yards off the U.S. sub's bow. "Sonar contact!" he yelled to 15 officers and crew in the dimly lighted control...

In 1995 and 1996, Taiwanese politicians signaled greater support for declaring their island country officially independent of China. Beijing’s response was swift, forceful … and ultimately an embarrassment to China. The Chinese army fired several missiles toward small, Taiwanese-held islands. That’s when the United States intervened in a big way, sending two entire aircraft carrier battle groups into the waters around Taiwan — and even sailing one carrier through the Taiwan Strait. The Chinese military was powerless against this show of force. Beijing couldn’t even reliably track the American warships, and had no forces of its own capable of threatening...

Pentagon deploys USS Wyoming amid tensions with Moscow nuclear-armed U.S. ballistic missile submarine arrived in Scotland this week amid growing tensions with Moscow over Ukraine and Russia’s strategic arms buildup. The submarine, the USS Wyoming, arrived at the British naval base at Faslane, Scotland, Wednesday morning for what the U.S. Strategic Command said is a routine visit. However, ballistic missile submarine movements and port visits normally are not announced by the Navy or the Strategic Command, an indication the Wyoming’s port call is intended as strategic messaging to Moscow. The submarine visit “demonstrates the closeness of the U.S./U.K. defense relationship...

Faced with China's growing anti-surface ship capacity, the United States should decrease its emphasis on large aircraft carriers in the Pacific and spend more on submarines, space capabilities and ways to make air bases and aircraft less vulnerable, according to a report released earlier this month by Rand Corp. In the 430-page report, the Santa Monica, Calif.-based think tank analyzed the relative military capabilities of the U.S. and China in certain scenarios based on open-source documents. The analysis makes comparisons using 10 "scorecards" covering air, maritime, space, cyber and nuclear domains. Capabilities were examined at seven-year intervals, beginning in 1996...

China is trying to sell two submarines to Egypt that are cheaper than vessels on offer from Germany, industry sources told Reuters, as Beijing looks to expand weapons exports beyond its traditional customer base in Asia. Beijing has sought to undercut Western submarine makers on price and by offering attractive export-credit terms for sales in Asia, the sources said. It has won deals with Pakistan and Bangladesh so far. China displaced Germany as the world's third-largest arms exporter, the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI) said in March, though nearly 70 percent of those weapons went to Pakistan, Bangladesh and...

WARSAW: Poland may join forces with other NATO members such as Norway or the Netherlands to buy submarines in a bid to cut costs, instead of buying them alone, Deputy Defence Minister Czeslaw Mroczek said on Sunday. The ministry had planned to buy three submarines with delivery set for 2020-25 and at a cost of 7.5 billion zlotys (US$2 billion) in a tender due to be launched at the start of this year. This was postponed when Poland decided to change the contract specification to arm the fleet with manoeuvring missiles. "We are considering obtaining submarines, for instance together with...

High-tech spy vessel carries cable-cutting gear, mini-subs U.S. intelligence ships, aircraft, and satellites are closely watching a Russian military vessel in the Atlantic that has been sailing near a U.S. nuclear missile submarine base and underwater transit routes, according to Pentagon officials. The Russian research ship Yantar has been tracked from the northern Atlantic near Canada since late August as it makes its way south toward Cuba.

An Israeli submarine that sank 47 years ago probably went down due to a technical failure, according to a report released by the navy yesterday. The report was released at a gathering of the families of the 69 sailors killed when the Dakar went down. Exactly what happened in the critical moments before the submarine sank remains unknown. But yesterday the navy released all the reports drafted after the incident, which had hitherto been classified, as well as a document summarizing all the efforts to search for the sub and any other information the defense establishment has about it. According...

Seoul refuses to back down and demands apology from Kim Jong-un for landmine blast it claims maimed two soldiers - North Korea's state media - Korean Central News Agency - has just issued another Shakespearean tirade against the South, accusing it of "false propaganda." Quote They [South Korea] claimed the DPRK "promulgated a decree on establishing a donation system" and "the society in the north has turned into the one where loyalty can be bought and sold." They asserted this was a "reliable source" from North Hamgyong Province. They even took issue with the newly built Pyongyang Home for the...