{"id":86645,"date":"2024-04-26T08:36:23","date_gmt":"2024-04-25T22:36:23","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/?p=86645"},"modified":"2024-04-26T08:38:01","modified_gmt":"2024-04-25T22:38:01","slug":"why-the-us-will-stay-dominant-in-undersea-warfare","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/why-the-us-will-stay-dominant-in-undersea-warfare\/","title":{"rendered":"Why the US will stay dominant in undersea warfare"},"content":{"rendered":"
<\/figure>\n

A <\/span>number of commentators in Australia<\/span> have <\/span>lately <\/span>made rash pronouncements about the demise of US submarines, alleging that innovative technologies will make <\/span>the vessels <\/span>vulnerable. Others have been arguing that US nuclear-powered submarines are now noisier than their Chinese counterparts and will be easily detectable by China.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

The fact is that <\/span>the United States <\/span>has been so far ahead in submarine technology and secure under<\/span>water operations over the <\/span>p<\/span>ast 50-plus years that its submarines are virtually undetectable by either China or Russia. In the Cold War, US <\/span>attack <\/span>submarines <\/span>(SSNs) <\/span>tailed Soviet ballistic<\/span>–<\/span>missile firing submarines (SSBNs) at close quarters without being detected. There is every reason to believe that the same applies these days to China\u2019s SSBNs. It is our view that China\u2019s <\/span>SSBNs <\/span>are so easily tracked by US SSNs that China\u2019s allegedly<\/span> survivable second-strike nuclear capability is at high risk (as was that of the USSR in the Cold War). In brief, the quietness of <\/span>US <\/span>submarines <\/span>and the sophistication of their operations <\/span>are legendary.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

The reason for this is that <\/span>for <\/span>more than <\/span>half a century <\/span>the United States <\/span>has persistently <\/span>poured <\/span>vast amounts of research and development <\/span>in<\/span>to<\/span> superior underwater warfare technology. Naturally, these capabilities are among<\/span> the United States\u2019 <\/span>most highly guarded secrets<\/span>, so <\/span>little <\/span>information about them <\/span>is <\/span>in the public domain. However, we recommend two books: <\/span>Blind Man\u2019s Bluff<\/span><\/i> by Sherry Sontag and Christopher Drew<\/span> (<\/span>1998<\/span>)<\/span> and <\/span>The Silent Deep: The Royal Navy Submarine Service since 1945 <\/span><\/i>by Peter<\/span> Hennessy and James Jinks<\/span> (<\/span>2016<\/span>)<\/span>. The former is about highly classified <\/span>US <\/span>submarine operations involving the CIA tapping into the USSR\u2019s seabed communications in the sea of Okhotsk for the Soviet Pacific submarine fleet in Kamchatka. US submarines made repeated visits and were not detected. <\/span>The<\/span><\/i> Silent Deep<\/span><\/i> covers <\/span>close<\/span>–<\/span>quarter submarine operations against Soviet SSBNs and SSNs<\/span> by British <\/span>nuclear <\/span>submarines<\/span>, whose reputation is similar to US submarines\u2019<\/span>. To our knowledge, there is no equivalent book available about operations against China\u2019s submarines yet (but the subject is touched on by <\/span>Michael McDevitt\u2019s <\/span>China as a Twenty First Century Naval Power<\/span><\/i>, 2020).<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Those who talk about superior Chinese submarine operations being able easily to detect US submarines do not know what they are talking about. The fact is that until recently China has depended very much on Russian technology for <\/span>its <\/span>SSBNs and SSNs. That includes even such relatively straight<\/span>forward techniques <\/span>as <\/span>isolating the noise of <\/span>engines and other machinery from the hull. We need to remember that in the Cold War Soviet ballistic<\/span>–<\/span>missile firing submarines were known as <\/span>boomers<\/span> because <\/span>their loud noises <\/span>were detectable over very considerable distances. <\/span>As for China <\/span>dealing with <\/span>US submarines, <\/span>the Pentagon stated in 2023 that China <\/span>\u2018<\/span>continues to lack a robust deep-water <\/span>anti-submarine warfare capability.<\/span>\u2019<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

It is true, of course, that both Russia and China are making progress towards quieter <\/span>submarine <\/span>operations. But do we believe that the United States is sitting on its hands and making no technological advances? Of course not. The US Navy continues to invest huge amounts in ensuring that its submarines remain at the absolute forefront of hard-to-detect operations under the world\u2019s oceans.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

So, when we take delivery of our <\/span>three Virginia<\/span>–<\/span>class <\/span>SSNs <\/span>from the U<\/span>S<\/span>, we can be confident that they will be both highly effective and difficult to counter. This is why China is so angry about the prospect of our acquiring them. China already has a bad case of SLOC anxiety (<\/span>worrying about its <\/span>sea lines of communication)<\/span>. It fears <\/span>loss <\/span>of <\/span>critical supplies, such as oil, <\/span>that come <\/span>through the confined waters of Southeast Asia. <\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Things <\/span>will only <\/span>get <\/span>worse for <\/span>China <\/span>when Australian SSNs enter service <\/span>and <\/span>when, under AUKUS, the US operates its own SSNs out of Fremantle. Further, if our Virginias are equipped with current long-range anti-ship missiles with a <\/span>range of m<\/span>ore than 2000<\/span>km<\/span>, they will be <\/span>formidable strike weapon<\/span>s<\/span> able to attack deep into our <\/span>region. For example, <\/span>2000km <\/span>is about <\/span>the <\/span>distance from east of the Philippines to the Yellow Sea between South Korea and China.\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Geography\u00a0<\/span>makes Chinese and Russian <\/span>submarines <\/span>relatively vulnerable<\/span> when leaving base<\/span>. <\/span>In China\u2019s case, the <\/span>N<\/span>orthern <\/span>F<\/span>leet <\/span>is bottled up in the <\/span>Yellow Sea<\/span>. The sea is intensely surveill<\/span>ed by South Korea<\/span> (<\/span>which <\/span>is <\/span>just <\/span>400km <\/span>from <\/span>one Northern Fleet base<\/span>, Weihai<\/span>)<\/span> and by Japan<\/span> (<\/span>which <\/span>is <\/span>800km from the main base, Qingdao<\/span>)<\/span>.<\/span> Both are US allies.<\/span><\/p>\n

Beijing\u2019s main <\/span>SSBN <\/span>base is on <\/span>Hainan<\/span>, an<\/span> i<\/span>sland in the south of China<\/span> from which submarines must <\/span>move through <\/span>relatively shallow <\/span>water<\/span>s<\/span> until <\/span>they <\/span>reach <\/span>deeper sea <\/span>closer to the Philippines and Taiwan. <\/span>And, <\/span>to get to the deep waters of the Pacific Ocean, they must then pass through a chain of US <\/span>SOSUS <\/span>seabed sonar arrays<\/span> that extends <\/span>from South Korea and Japan <\/span>to Taiwan, the Philippines and Indonesia<\/span>.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

The <\/span>United States,<\/span> by <\/span>contrast, <\/span>has submarine bases on <\/span>its east <\/span>and west coasts <\/span>that <\/span>provide prompt access to secure deep waters in the open Pacific and Atlantic oceans. It has no potential adversaries nearby. <\/span>Similarly<\/span>, submarines leaving such Australian ports as Sydney and Fremantle also have quick access to secure deep oceanic waters.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

It is important to remember that keeping a capability edge in pro- submarine and anti-submarine warfare is vital for <\/span>US <\/span>security. This is especially true with respect to nuclear capabilities, the stability of the nuclear balance and the survivability of <\/span>US SSBNs<\/span>. <\/span>That is why <\/span>the US continues to invest heavily in such matters as submarine signature management (including radiated acoustic signatures), sensor performance<\/span> and<\/span> upgrade<\/span>s<\/span> of the Mark 48 torpedo (including through joint research with Australia<\/span>)<\/span>.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Against this background, we reject the belief of those who say that US submarines have had their day. <\/span>The United States<\/span> has the world\u2019s largest and most potent nuclear-powered submarine fleet and intends to keep it that way. No wonder that China is so worried about the prospect of Australia acquiring such a vastly superior capability.\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

A number of commentators in Australia have lately made rash pronouncements about the demise of US submarines, alleging that innovative technologies will make the vessels vulnerable. Others have been arguing that US nuclear-powered submarines are …<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":167,"featured_media":86646,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mi_skip_tracking":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[17,457,114,223,31,289],"class_list":["post-86645","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-general","tag-australia","tag-nuclear-submarines","tag-ran","tag-submarines","tag-united-states","tag-us-navy"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nWhy the US will stay dominant in undersea warfare | The Strategist<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/why-the-us-will-stay-dominant-in-undersea-warfare\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Why the US will stay dominant in undersea warfare | The Strategist\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"A number of commentators in Australia have lately made rash pronouncements about the demise of US submarines, alleging that innovative technologies will make the vessels vulnerable. 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