In the realities of today, combat swimmers and naval special forces are the real elite of the armed forces. Large sums of money and technical resources are spent on equipping and equipping such units. Especially for them, unusual weapons are being developed, such as the Russian ADS two-medium rifle-grenade launcher complex, and special vehicles, which are ultra-small submarines. One of the most famous American developments in this area is the SDV Mark 8 Mod 1, an ultra-small transport submarine for combat swimmers.
A short excursion into the history of midget submarines
Like many examples of weapons and military equipment, midget submarines for combat swimmers trace their history back to World War II. It was during the war that the debut of Italian and Japanese miniature submarines took place. These two countries are the most advanced in the field of creating unusual naval weapons. In Italy were created midget submarines of the CB and CA series, which were equipped with torpedo armament and could land combat swimmers, as well as small man-torpedoes or guided SLC torpedoes, called "Mayale". During the war years, the Italians managed to release 80 such guided torpedoes. And the miniature submarines they created were actively used in the Black Sea and even chalked up several victories, at least two cases of sinking Soviet submarines by them are known.
Japan has also succeeded in creating ultra-small submarines, which is not surprising given the naval focus of the country's armed forces. Like Italy, the Imperial Japanese Navy was armed with various models of miniature submarines, as well as guided man-torpedoes, while in the Japanese version these were Kaiten torpedoes guided by a suicide pilot. In the course of hostilities, they proved to be very ineffective weapons.
The same can be said about Japanese mini-submarines, which, although they were actively used in sabotage, were never able to inflict serious damage on the enemy. The very first experience of their use during the attack on Pearl Harbor was unsuccessful, the boats did not achieve their goals. Despite not the most successful combat debut in the post-war years, at the height of the Cold War, the projects of Italian and Japanese engineers helped to develop new underwater vehicles. First of all, underwater delivery vehicles for combat swimmers and soldiers of the special forces of the fleet.
Mini submarine SDV Mark 8 Mod 1
To date, mini-submarines SDV (SEAL Delivery Vehicle) Mark 8 Mod 1 are the only such submarines used in the US and UK navies. To some extent, these are distant relatives of the first Italian guided torpedoes during the Second World War. In the United States, the United States Navy SEALs use miniature submarines; in the UK, the Special Boat Service (SBS) is the Royal Navy.
Typical tasks for such devices is to conduct covert, covert missions in restricted areas. We are talking about naval bases, ports, areas of the sea coast, which are occupied and controlled by the enemy, or military activity near which is undesirable, as it can attract unnecessary attention and provide political problems and irritation of the world community. Such mini-submarines can be used for sabotage operations, allowing combat swimmers to plant mines on ships and port infrastructure facilities, reconnaissance of the seabed and its mapping, reconnaissance and search for sunken objects. The Americans used their SDVs during both wars in Iraq. Among the tasks they solved were the protection of offshore oil and gas terminals, the clearance of Iraqi mines, as well as hydrographic exploration.
SDV Mark 8 Mod 1 is used to transport two crew members: pilot and co-pilot / navigator, as well as teams of four frogmen and their equipment. In this case, both pilots are usually also part of the group of combat swimmers. The maximum length of a mini-submarine does not exceed 6.4 meters, diameter - 1.8 meters, displacement - 18 tons. There is an electric motor on board the boat, which is powered by lithium-ion batteries. The electric motor drives a single propeller. Due to their small size and movement only due to the electric motor, with almost complete absence of moving parts, such transports are very difficult to detect using sonars.
The battery charge and the power of the electric motor are enough to accelerate the small submarine to a maximum speed of 6 knots (approximately 11 km / h), while the cruising speed is 4 knots (approximately 7.5 km / h). The device is able to work from 8 to 12 hours and provides a combat radius of approximately 28-33 km. At the same time, the real limitation is not the capacity of batteries of accumulators or air reserves for combat swimmers, but the temperature of the surrounding water. Since swimmers move in the "wet" version, and the submarines themselves are open, their activities are limited by the water temperature. The colder the water, the less time even in the most modern wetsuits fighters can spend on board such a device. For long-range missions, all SDV vehicles can additionally carry on board compressed air supplies to replenish air cylinders or self-contained breathing apparatus for combat swimmers.
At the same time, there are two types of vehicles in the US Navy: "wet", like the SDV Mark 8 Mod 1, and "dry", like the Advanced SEAL Delivery System (ASDS). The last unit is a larger mini-submarine with a displacement of about 30 tons. When using ASDS, fighters move around in its hull, almost like in an underwater bus.
All SDV Mark 8 Mod 1 vehicles received a serious set of onboard equipment and electronics. They are equipped with a Doppler inertial navigation system, high-frequency sonar designed to avoid obstacles and sea mines, as well as underwater navigation, and a GPS system. Updates in terms of new batteries, materials, a better streamlined shape and electronics have significantly increased the capabilities of the SDV Mark 8 Mod 1 devices compared to their predecessors Mod 0. A feature of these mini-submarines for combat divers is the abandonment of plastic-reinforced fiberglass in favor of a more traditional aluminum hull. … This solution made it possible to increase the strength and capacity of the vehicles, and also provided the possibility of landing from a low altitude from the side of transport helicopters. Then the combat swimmers descend into the water, who are placed on board the SDV and begin to carry out their combat mission.
Mini-submarine carriers
The carriers of mini-submarines for combat swimmers are submarines, both specially converted for this purpose submarines of the Ohio and Los Angeles types, and the submarines of the Virginia and Seawulf types originally equipped with the necessary equipment and docking nodes. In addition, it is possible to launch mini-submarines from the shore or from aboard helicopters and transport aircraft, by simply dropping them into the water in an unmanned version. The British can use atomic submarines of the Astute type as a carrier for such mini-submarines.
As a means of transporting miniature boats and combat swimmers in the United States, special removable docking cameras - DDS (Dry Deck Shelter) - have been developed. They are small removable container modules equipped with a hangar airlock for exiting combat swimmers from the submarine. The hangar can accommodate at least one special vehicle for SDV swimmers, up to four ordinary rubber boats and up to 20 combat swimmers, or other special equipment. The very concept of such modules was formulated in the 1970s. And already in 1982, the Electric Boat Division, which is part of the large American corporation General Dynamics, released the first docking camera, which received the DDS-01S index.
The length of such a module is approximately 11.6 meters, the diameter is 2.74 meters, the maximum displacement is about 30 tons. The docking camera is divided into three sealed compartments. After re-equipment, strategic submarines could take on board two of these modules, multipurpose submarines - one module each. The front compartment of the module is characterized by its spherical shape and is a decompression chamber. The middle compartment, also spherical, is designed to connect the compartments of the docking camera itself and the gateway adapter located on the submarine hull. The third compartment is the largest in size; there is a hangar for the transportation of boats and cargo. Inside the dock-chamber, as well as on board the submarine, atmospheric pressure is maintained. In this case, the module can be used for its intended purpose at depths of up to 40 meters.
Another carrier of mini-submarines for combat swimmers is the Ocean Trader, a special-purpose ship, which belongs to the class of forward-based ships of the US Navy Special Operations Forces and is one of the most unusual and secret combat ships today. The Americans have converted for these purposes an ordinary civilian ro-ro - a ship for the transport of goods on a wheel base. The new warship can board all helicopters at the disposal of the US Navy MTR, including the MH-53E Sea Stallion, as well as the V-22 Ospreys tiltrotors. It is even possible to base Apache attack helicopters on board. The ship also has a special ramp for launching unmanned aerial vehicles used for reconnaissance. There is also a special airlock on the ship, which allows the use of mini-submarines SDV Mark 8 Mod 1.
