Re: PLAN submarines Thread II
Between 2005 to 2007 during US Navy/Swedish navy war games, the Swedish Gotland diesel submarine was very effective in attacking US Los Angeles subs and at least one carrier fleet (
). The Swedish Gotland even won against the US Navy on US-mapped territory. The Gotland isn't the best diesel submarine, and diesel subs and nuclear subs continue to improve with no end in sight.
From reading military sites and corporate news, submarine designers are planning to greatly enhance submarines with:
* Unmanned underwater vehicles for a variety of functions
* Long, tubular extensions for surface espionage and other surface functions
* Enhancing teamwork between surface fleets and submersible fleets. The sub fleets will surface near or within surface fleets when it needs oxygen, supplies, a break, or to exchange data. Then the sub fleets will go under water and perform some lone wolf missions.
Subs are also improving the stealth of their:
* Size, shape, and color
* Their aerodynamics (you know what I mean)
* Heat signature from engineering inefficiency and expelling hot/warm particles.
* Magnetic waves
* Electro-magnetic emissions
* Sound/sonar features
* Surfacing technologies with the main ship plus with UUVs, and small devices extended from very long tubes
Subs are advancing technologies and tactics involving:
* Laying still on mountainous sea/ocean floor
* Laying still on sea/ocean valleys
* Taking advantage of bad weather
* AIP and other technologies for enhanced underwater endurance
* Working with friendly surface fleets (incl. aircraft) for resting/resupply, protection, and data exchange.
* Enhanced torpedoes and missiles (more stealthy, expanded range, augmented movement patterns, increased intelligence, improved accuracy, and intensified damage)
* Survivability against attacks
The Gotland war games humbled the US Navy, but the US Navy is NOT sitting still. The US Navy has developed solutions against subs based on the P-3/P-8/fixed-wing-reconnaisance. No offense to helicopter crews, but I read some US Navy open-source stuff, and the US Navy favors its fixed-wing recon to track submarines. The recon helicopters reinforce the fixed-wing recon, but the fixed-wing recon is the foundation. FWR can fly farther and faster than helicopters, FWR have more people/brains, the FWR have a greater variety of more powerful sensors, and the FWR have MUCH longer range sensors. However, the FWR can't hover over one spot like recon helicopters, require larger airbases, and are more expensive to design, build, operate, maintain, fix, and lose. FWR and recon helicopters are MANY TIMES more effective with the support of friendly air dominance. Without friendly air dominance, FWR's effectiveness drops greatly.
The fixed-wing recon (FWR) is improving its ability to sense subs or their UUV and tubular extensions at the surface and under various waters. The FWR can reliably track communication signals (whether intentional or unavoidable) from many submersible vehicles (whether manned or unmanned) because they eventually give off signals for communication. The FWR are also developing enhanced sensors for temperature differences between the natural world and man-made objects. The same goes for tracking differences between natural and man-made things in the form of magnetic waves, electromagnetic emissions, and sonar reflections.
The US Navy is advancing its own manned and unmanned submersible vehicles fleet.
MOST IMPORTANTLY, the US Navy is improving the skill of anti-sub personnel by requiring steady, frequent, and various war games involving subs.
It seems all major navies in the world are essentially augmenting their aerial, surface, and underwater technologies and skills. This includes the US, Europe, Russia, China, South Korea, Japan, and a few other nations.
In other words, the unbreakable shield/armor and the unstoppable sword/spear/axe/bow-and-arrow is a myth. Each opposing army tries to have both the unbreakable protection and the unstoppable attack. Offense and defense are constantly developing technologies and skills to outdo each other. Once one side stops or fails to counter the other side, then the former side loses. It's a never ending game of paper-rock-scissor.
