… The zone of continuous control of the AUG is a cylinder with a radius of 300 miles and a height from the seabed to low Earth orbits. Not a single aircraft, surface combat ship or submarine of the enemy has a chance to pass unnoticed inside the guarded perimeter - in the event of real hostilities, their presence will be revealed, and the suspicious objects themselves will be immediately destroyed by the fire weapons of ships and carrier-based aircraft.
Lords of the sea!
But why can't you see cheeky smiles on the faces of the Yankees? Where have all the arrogance and the feeling of their own superiority gone? Eyes reddened with tension, the sailors gaze intently at the sonar screens. There, under the dark water, there is something …
Houston, we have a problem
The command of the US Navy immediately guessed that the matter was cool - in 2000, during an exercise off the coast of Hawaii, an Australian diesel-electric boat of the Collins class was able to break through the security and freely entered the aircraft carrier group of the US Navy. Similar results were demonstrated by exercises in the Mediterranean Sea - Israeli submarines of the Dolphin type conditionally "sunk" half of the Sixth Fleet.
The Americans found themselves helpless in the face of the new threat.
Despite their contemptuous nickname, modern "diesels" have become deadly adversaries. Their small size and low level of intrinsic noise made the boats almost invisible against the background of the sounds of the sea.
Unlike rumbling nuclear-powered ships, diesel-electric submarines are devoid of itching pumps that ensure the circulation of the coolant in the reactor. They do not have turbo-gear units and powerful refrigerating machines - only silent batteries and a quiet electric motor. Optionally - an air-independent unit, made on hydrogen fuel cells or similar to the Stirling engine, also working without internal explosions and strong vibrations.
Small size and power - all this reduces the heat footprint and the area of the boat's wetted surface. Decreases noise and increases stealth. The low weight of the steel hull elements do not cause anomalies in the Earth's magnetic field, preventing the boat from being detected by magnetic detectors.
A truly secretive, silent killer. Marine Black Hole!
The composition of weapons and the complex of means of detection on board diesel-electric submarines is in no way inferior to their senior "colleagues" - nuclear-powered ships. Mine and torpedo weapons, underwater cruise missiles, diving and special equipment - "diesel men" are capable of "pulling three skins" from anyone who dares to poke their heads into the coastal waters of their state.
At the same time, they are relatively cheap (on average, 4-5 times cheaper than a nuclear-powered ship), numerous and, as a result, ubiquitous. According to the calculations of the American command, today diesel-electric submarines are in service with 39 countries of the world. Over 300 diesel-electric submarines! - the coastal waters of Eurasia are literally teeming with these "fish", but the American fleet was never ready to face such a threat.
The Yankees themselves do not build diesel-electric submarines for one obvious reason - any conflicts always take place in the Old World, and in order to make war, the Americans are forced to drag themselves far across the land and three oceans. The US Navy has an unlimited budget and a pronounced offensive focus - of course, the choice was made in favor of nuclear powered boats. The Yankees built their last non-nuclear submarine in 1959 (an experimental submarine of the SSK type).
The meeting with the new threat forced the Pentagon to reflect on its own behavior and urgently adopt the DESI (Diesel-Electric Submarine Initiative) program aimed at developing measures to combat modern diesel-electric submarines.
Since the mid-2000s, the US Navy began to actively invite allied submarines to the exercises - diesel-electric boats of the Brazilian Navy, Chile, Colombia, Peru …
But it’s one thing to chase the latest modifications of the “Type 209” - diesel-electric submarines of the third generation of German construction, which are good in all respects, except for one thing - they have to rise to the surface every few days.
And a completely different matter is a meeting with an ultra-modern diesel-electric submarine equipped with an air-independent (anaerobic) propulsion system, which radically extends the time spent under water. Such submarines go beyond the usual classification (diesel-electric submarines) and are classified as non-nuclear submarines (non-nuclear submarines).
To work out a similar scenario, the US Navy decided to turn to the allies for help and to lease the Swedish diesel-electric submarine HSwMS Gotland (Gtd) with a Stirling engine.
From the Vikings to the Americans
The Gotland arrived in San Diego aboard the MV Eide Transporter in June 2005, and a crew of 30 Swedish sailors were airlifted to California. It took a couple of weeks to acclimatize and adjust the balance and systems of the submarine, originally designed for the cool, almost fresh waters of the Baltic, under the conditions of the great ocean.
And then it began …
For the next six months, the Third American Fleet studied hard to find a Swedish boat. US Navy specialists scrupulously studied the "Gotland" from the outside and from the inside, recorded its noises and parameters of thermal and electromagnetic fields.
The fantastic submarine shook the imagination of the Yankees:
The Gotland turned out to be extremely fast, powerful and as secretive as possible. Six torpedo tubes, 18 torpedoes, the ability to set up to 48 minutes.
Tiny crew, high automation and perfect detection systems.
The low mass of the hull, low-magnetic steel and 27 compensating electromagnets completely excluded the detection of the boat by detectors of magnetic anomalies.
The noise background of the boat also exceeded all the expectations of the Americans - thanks to a single all-mode electric motor and vibration isolation of all mechanisms, the Gotland was hardly detected even in the immediate vicinity of American ships, and the special coating of the hull, coupled with its small size, made it extremely difficult to detect the Gotland to the limit. active sonars.
The boat simply merged with the natural heat and noise of the ocean.
Central post (CP) of the submarine "Gotland"
But the most important thing is that the Swedish monster could continuously remain under water for two weeks (and with an economical mode of oxidant consumption - up to 20 days)!
Before the Americans, there was a masterpiece of technological progress. An invisible and invincible submarine capable of sailing wherever there is seven feet under the keel, and accomplishing any task assigned, both offshore and offshore.
The Americans did not create illusions about the capabilities of their "enemy" - back in 2003, during an exercise in the Mediterranean, in a duel situation, the Swedish Gotland tracked down and conditionally "sank" a French nuclear submarine and American SSN-713 Houston submarine. What made a real sensation.
This time, everything happened in a similar way - despite all the efforts of the American anti-submarine forces, the Swedish boat stubbornly passed through all the cordons and ended up where it should not be.
The apotheosis was December 2005 - during the international exercises Joint Task Force Exercise 06-2, at which the US Third Fleet was preparing to demonstrate everything it had learned over the past year, a disaster occurred: a small Varangian "interrupted" the entire seventh carrier strike group, during led by the aircraft carrier Ronald Reagan.
… Stirling engines puffed muffledly, recharging batteries; the electric motor hummed softly. The submarine was crawling in a five-knot way, scanning the water column …
First of all, "Gotland" tracked down and conditionally "destroyed" the nuclear submarine - the only one that posed a real threat to the Swedes. The multipurpose submarine was supposed to ensure the safety of the AUG from attacks from under the water and cover the "dead sectors" under the bottoms of cruisers and destroyers. For which she died first.
Left without the cover of their own submarine, surface warships began to "perish" one after another - "Gotland" passed through the order like a blade of a blade, alternately approaching American ships and taking photographs of them from various angles and distances. The Yankees learned about the presence of the boat only when they saw a breaker nearby from the periscope - in real conditions, this would mean a pair of homing torpedoes fired.
It was not possible to establish stable contact with the boat - the only way to stay alive was to leave the terrible square, i.e. disrupt the main task. AUG was unable to break through and strike at the selected target.
The shocking results of the exercises entailed the most serious consequences - the contract with Sweden was extended for another year. "Gotland" continued to serve in the Pacific Ocean, as a simulator of the "enemy" nuclear submarine.
The results of further maneuvers with the participation of "Gotland" are scanty assessed as "successful": the American command thanks all the participants in the exercises, the Swedish sailors share their enthusiastic impressions of the visits to Disneyland and the US Navy aircraft carrier ships (which, however, are one and the same).
Fairing of the AN / SQS-53 underkeeping sonar of the Ticonderoga-class cruiser
Obviously, over the two years of close communication with "Gotland", American sailors learned a lot about the design, capabilities and tactics of using modern diesel-electric submarines, which is called "first-hand". It is reported that the Yankees did not spare their own forces and the resource of the foreign submarine - in the first year alone, the Gotland spent 4,000 hours at sea, instead of the 2000 hours prescribed. Certain conclusions were probably made and measures were taken to counter the underwater threat.
Did the Yankees find an effective solution to the problem? Unlikely. The stealthiness of modern non-nuclear submarines is too great.
Stealth boats
The only excuse for American sailors is that submarines corresponding to the combat capabilities of the Gotland are not included in every Navy. The circle of operators of non-nuclear submarines of the fourth generation is limited mainly to developed countries, most of which are members of the NATO bloc:
- Sweden (three boats of the "Gotland" type);
- Germany, Italy, Portugal, Greece, Turkey (the fleets of these countries use the German "Type-212" or the export version "Type 214". Very complex and expensive submarines with an air-independent installation on hydrogen cells);
- Israel (five boats of the "Dolphin" type of German construction, created on the basis of "Type 212");
- Chile, Malaysia, India, Brazil (Franco-Spanish project "Scorpene"; India and Brazil will receive their ordered ships in the period 2014-2020);
- Spain (four boats of the S-80 type under construction);
- South Korea (exploits the German "Type 214");
- Japan (Soryu boats with a Stirling engine being built according to their own design).
"Nimitz" and South Korean submarine "San Won" (Type 214), Busan Naval Base
Nevertheless, the Yankees are haunted by two dozen "Varshavyanka" Soviet design, bred around the world in the amount of more than 20 pieces. The combat capabilities of the Varshavyanks are very close to those of the fourth generation submarines (and in a number of parameters - the depth of immersion, ammunition, the composition of the armament - they are significantly superior to all foreign counterparts). The only weakness is the limited submerged power reserve, already on the third or fourth day, the Varshavyanks need to ascend to periscope depth to recharge the batteries.
In addition, Russia is carrying out its own work to create anaerobic propulsion systems for submarines - it was originally intended to equip Project 677 (Lada) submarines with such an engine. Alas, the lead boat - B-585 "Saint-Petrburg", laid down back in 1997, was completed as an "ordinary" diesel-electric submarine. The impromptu did not go to the benefit of the ship - the B-585 was accepted for trial operation by the Navy, but it could not become a combat unit of the fleet (the underwater speed is 60% of the calculated value).
M-305 (project 615), Odessa
In fact, not everything is as sad as it seems - after all, at one time the USSR was one of the world leaders in the field of creating air-independent power plants for the submarine fleet. Suffice it to recall the project 615 - a series of 29 small submarines (classification - "M", surface / underwater displacement - 400/500 tons) equipped with equipment for operating a diesel engine in a submerged position (liquefied oxygen and carbon dioxide absorber).
Or diesel-electric S-273, re-equipped in the 1980s according to the 613E Katran project - with the installation of an electrochemical energy generator for underwater navigation.
Finally, air-independent propulsion systems soon promise to appear on promising Russian boats, whose construction will be carried out according to the modernized project 677 "Lada". The construction of "conventional" diesel-electric submarines will no longer be carried out, quoting the former Commander-in-Chief Vladimir Vysotsky: "we do not need boats powered by the Second World War."
Everything is correct. Russia needs non-nuclear submarines with anaerobic propulsion systems, like the Swedish Gotland - the most reliable and effective investment for the fastest saturation of the fleet with new combat units. Ideal for dealing with enemy ships in the coastal zone and in open sea areas.
Video - "Gotland" in the service of the US Navy. Boat Commander Frederick Linden's interview for the NBC4 news channel.
Summary of the conversation:
Reporter: It looks like an ordinary submarine, but experts call it the deadliest boat in the world. This is a real threat and we had to turn to Sweden for help.
Linden: It's dangerous to make too much noise in our work.
(R): Frederick Linden and 29 of his subordinates arrived at the Point Loma naval base (San Diego) to help us deal with the next generation of submarines. Conventional boats cannot stay under water for long, but the Gotland is equipped with a high-tech air-independent system.
(L): With an air-independent engine, I can stay underwater for weeks.
(R): The boat can remain underwater for almost a month, but it is also an incredibly stealthy ship - the Navy played cat and mouse with the Gotland all last summer. The boat was able to conditionally sink our nuclear submarine and the largest nuclear-powered aircraft carrier Ronald Reagan.
Norman Polmar, naval expert: The Gotland has made perfect circles around our AUGs.
(R): Countries like North Korea, Iran and China are already working on such boats. With submarines like the Gotland, Iran can completely cut off tanker traffic in the Persian Gulf!
Polmar: Yes, Iran is a real threat.
(R): Commander Linden understands how vulnerable the United States will become if the Gotland falls into the hands of our enemies. (to Linden) Are there places on the North American coast that the Gotland cannot penetrate?
Commander Linden shakes his head.
