Posted on 04/15/2007 6:21:44 AM PDT by knighthawk
MOSCOW (Reuters) - Russia on Sunday launched its first new generation nuclear submarine since the fall of the Soviet Union as the Kremlin seeks to upgrade its undersea nuclear strike force.
The long delayed Yuri Dolgoruky, the first Borei-class (Arctic Wind) nuclear submarine, was moved to the dry docks at a highly secret submarine base in the Arctic town of Severodvinsk, the heart of Russia's northern submarine fleet.
Sergei Ivanov, Russia's powerful first deputy prime minister who rules the military-industrial sector, took part in the ceremony along with the navy top brass and Kremlin advisors.
"For the first time in 17 years we are launching such a vessel -- in essence this is the first Russian strategic submarine, a submarine of the new generation," Ivanov said, the RIA news agency reported.
"We have done a great thing -- shown that our shipbuilding sector is developing and that we can build such unique armaments," said Ivanov.
The launch of the new submarine is part of a plan, approved by President Vladimir Putin, to upgrade the core of Russia's undersea nuclear attack forces, military analysts said.
The Yuri Dolgoruky has taken 12 years to build after problems with state funding in the chaos of the 1990s, when the post-Soviet navy and shipbuilding industry lost much of its talent.
Putin has boosted funding for the submarine fleet, which has been involved in a string of fatal accidents including the sinking of the Kursk nuclear submarine in the Barents Sea in August 2000. All 118 sailors aboard the Kursk perished.
Russia's new super-quiet submarine will equipped with Bulava-M ballistic missiles, which have misfired in several recent tests. They have a range of 8,000 km (5,000 miles).
The Yuri Dolgoruky, which takes its name from a Slavic prince who helped defend Moscow, can descend to a depth of 450 metres (1,500 feet) and can carry 107 sailors. It will enter full service in the northern fleet in 2008.
Russia has the second largest nuclear submarine fleet in the world after the United States.
Ping
The long delayed Yuri Dolgoruky, the first Borei-class (Arctic Wind) nuclear submarine, was moved to the dry docks at a highly secret submarine base in the Arctic town of Severodvinsk, the heart of Russia’s northern submarine fleet.
We’re doomed!
The US Navy added advanced technology to ASW in the late 80's that can be upgraded today to track even the steathiest sub -- in my opinion.
However, one thing that I would like the US Navy to fund and build is a dipping active sonar from the V-22.
The speed and range of the V-22 would increase the search area.
A dipping active sonar would not necessarily require a stationary position for the V-22 -- going at 20 to 30 knots about the seas and doing a 360 degree ping -- might be a very effective tool in ASW.
(The V-22 in a stationary or hovering mode consumes enormous fuel. But the V-22 could be refueled in flight to extend time searching for subs...)
A bow mounted sonar that is used on the Aegis cruisers (stripped down and made into a 360 degree active/passive sonar) would be the starting point for my design.
I wonder if I should form a company and starting making bids to the US Navy...
So that’s what a Front Door/Front Piece looks like.
Wonder if it comes with one of those new-fangled, high-energy, liquid-fueled, self-exploding torpedoes?
SH-60R....
The Airborne Low Frequency Sonar (ALFS) and increased sonobuoy processing capability for the SH-60 helicopter will maintain and improve undersea warfare mission effectiveness against the quiet submarine threat in deep and shallow water environments. The ALFS project provides a dipping sonar with demonstrated capabilities typically 3 to 6 times (square miles of ocean searched per hour) the existing deep water capability. This improvement will significantly increase battle group and independent ship protection providing improved survivability and operating flexibility. ALFS provides longer detection ranges and a greater detection capability by using lower frequencies, less signal attenuation, longer pulse lengths, improved processing and increased transmission power. ALFS utilizes the Enhanced Modular Signal Processor, designated UYS-2A, for improved sonobuoy processing capability.
It is still very difficult, if not impossible to hear a submerged boat on batteries, without going active.
The problem with active sonars is temperature layers. That is why a surface ship is at a disadvantage to an attack sub with bow mounted active sonar -- the attack sub can use the active to locate the diesel boat.
Of course, the attack sub gives away its position with this.
Of course, just as there are UAV's there are also a three letter thing that takes care of this problem...
Send you a private post -- though you probably know this.
The book Running Critically and the Tom Clancy novels give a wealth of information on sub tech. Though I think Running Critically had the Russians having sodium nuke reactors when they had liquid metal nuke reactors.
The Russians had a problem with this sub -- the molten metal would cool on the reactor and solidify, and the sub would sink -- which is something I read circa 2000 about Russian subs...
I am aware of the SQQ-28 system. Sonobuoys are key to that, and that technology can always be improved...
The detected sub might take out the helicopter just as spite. A V-22 might be able to get the hell out of Dodge quick enough -- faster than the helicopter.
I did take this up on another thread once, and basically, this was brought up. But the V-22 would not replace the SH-60R. It could be another ASSET for the US NAVY in ASW.
If one could pack 20 to 30 k lbs of ASW equipment on a V-22, that is much more than the SH-60R.
To my knowledge, there is no project for an active dipping sonar, in the US Navy...
“To my knowledge, there is no project for an active dipping sonar, in the US Navy...”
As I posted, ALFS is active sonar:
ALFS provides longer detection ranges and a greater detection capability by using lower frequencies, less signal attenuation, longer pulse lengths, improved processing and increased transmission power.
“The detected sub might take out the helicopter just as spite. A V-22 might be able to get the hell out of Dodge”
Run? Why? If you’re in such a hostile environment and you’re interrogating a sub, you drop a MK-46 on him, first.
My son is a Commander in the Navy working on secret projects and I don't know a thing about any of them, hence the term...secret. I glad there are secret projects on-going in our defense system. It's too bad that when some malcontent decides that a project should not be secret that the details get released by the nyslimes.
but you can sometimes find them passively by the lack of ambient noise where they are... the bigger they are, the bigger the size of the hole in the ambient background noise.
When I was working on an ASW project in the 1980's, I previously had John S. McCain (III) as my Congressman in Arizona.
While I was working on this ASW project, I wrote a letter to Senator McCain -- not containing anything classified, but just something about the project (the project name -- which was not classified and basically that we were making extremely good progress -- which I was proud of). He was a Senator by that time -- I think. I was living in New York, and I knew that his grandfather was a Vice Admiral in the Navy and his father was at least a Rear Admiral if not Vice Admiral.
After I sent the letter, there were leaks in Washington, DC about our project -- so it might have come out of a Congressional office such as McCain.
The point of the story is that the NYSLIMES is a danger to National Security as well as Nancy Pelosi (and others in Congress -- Democrat or Republican).
There is an interesting story about Senator McCain's grandfather in a book about Admiral Chester Nimitz -- his grandfather's false teeth fell into a toilet and he made his aide wash the teeth thoroughly. I am not sure why I remember that story.
There was another story about Chester Nimitz that was interesting. His aide got him up in the middle of the night because of an urgent request from Guadacanal -- which was a very fierce battle in WW II.
The aide was concerned about the General asking for a load of condoms. Chester Nimitz calmly explained that it was to cover up the end of rifles for the hostile jungle environment and went back to bed...
By the way, is your moniker in Freeper land mean you served or knew something about the battle cruiser USS Alaska.
That was a very fine class of ships that really came into WW II at the end...
However, let me play devil's advocate for what the hostile sub captain might do...
The point of evasion (running away) is if the sub launches a weapon before the MK-46 reaches the target.
A rocket propelled torpedo (such as the Russians were supposedly working on in the disaster in August 2000) might take out the hostile sub so that the helicopter might not have to evade a weapon fired by a sub that is sunk or sinking.
Another cure (to kill the weapon launched from the sub) is launch a depth charge to kill any weapons launched (by the hostile sub) as well firing a torpedo at the hostile sub.
So it might depend on what the options of the pilot are...
The Richard Widmark/Sidney Poiter movie The Bedford Incident has a situation where a US Destroyer sinks a Russian sub by accident. The US Destroyer is also sunk AFTER the sub is either sinking or sunk...
The movie is a Hollywood script with all that this entails...
WHY?...
Those reactors had the problem that the liquid metal reactors (the metal was used as coolant) would solidify and sink the subs... There are a few of these on the bottom of the ocean from the reactors metal coolant hardening.
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