The domestic submarine fleet is indeed significantly inferior to the American one. This is how our experts comment on the relevant statements of the head of the Pentagon, who calls Russian and Chinese submarines the main competitors of the US submarine fleet. However, Russia also has such submarines, an analogue of which the United States has not been able to create.
In his speech at the largest submarine base of the US Navy in Groton, Connecticut, Pentagon chief Ashton Carter said that his department considers Russian submariners as rivals. "We, of course, have competitors in countries such as Russia and China, which, hopefully, will never become aggressors," TASS quoted him as saying.
At the same time, he said that although the superiority of the American naval forces and, in particular, the submarine fleet is not an American "birthright", in the future, his country's submarine superiority over China and Russia will continue.
According to the first rank captain, first vice-president of the Academy of Geopolitical Problems Konstantin Sivkov, given the current state of affairs, Carter is really right. The Russian submarine fleet is inferior to the American one both quantitatively and qualitatively. “Should we catch up with America? If we are going to solve the problem of protecting our interests on a global scale, then it is probably worth it. And if we are going to sit on the shores of our continent and not stick out anywhere, then we shouldn't,”Sivkov said in a commentary to the VZGLYAD newspaper.
Indeed, according to the Central Naval Portal, in 2014 Russian submariners were superior to their American counterparts only in the number of nuclear submarines with cruise missiles. Russia has seven of them, along with those under construction - nine, and the US Navy, according to the payroll, has four (however, the number of cruise missiles on board is many times greater). In addition, the Americans do not have diesel submarines in service. There are 57 of them in the Russian Navy.
But in this case, rather, it is worth talking not about Russian superiority, but about different strategies for the development of the naval forces. The Americans deliberately abandoned diesel submarines. Their construction was curtailed in the late fifties. And now the American Navy is relying on nuclear submarines, which are more expensive, but better suited for long autonomous voyages. In terms of the number of nuclear attack submarines, the United States noticeably surpasses Russia: the Americans have 53, our Navy has 16 (19 under construction).
If we talk about a qualitative comparison, then it will also not be in favor of Russia. In Soviet times, the USSR was the leader in the construction of the submarine fleet in the world. So, since 1983, Project 971 Pike-B submarines (in NATO classification - Akula) have been produced. At that time, they were close to their American counterparts in terms of secrecy. At the end of the Cold War, the Americans were able to create a masterpiece of submarine shipbuilding - the fourth generation Seawulf submarines. But they turned out to be so expensive that the Americans were forced to abandon their mass production.
However, since the nineties, there has been a failure in the development of the Russian submarine fleet. During this entire period, our military-industrial complex could only finish building the ships laid down during the Soviet era. At the same time, over a decade, only a few nuclear submarines entered service - the same number as in Soviet times they were built in a year. At the same time, the Americans annually commissioned several submarines of the latest modifications. In terms of combat duty, according to the Federation of American Scientists (FAS), in 2008 American submarine missile carriers had three times more trips than Russians. Although, according to the statement of the former commander-in-chief of the Navy, Viktor Chirkov, from January 2014 to March 2015 the intensity of Russian submarines' entry into combat service increased sharply (by 50% compared to 2013), we can say that in this indicator submariners approached the Soviet level, is still not necessary.
All this, of course, does not deprive the Russian submarine fleet of the title of the second in the world. Today, Russian submarine shipbuilding, unlike many other industrial sectors of the Soviet era, is still at the global level. “The Chinese have no submarines at all to compete with the American ones. We have about a dozen of them,”Sivkov noted.
According to Defense news, China, named by Carter as the main competitor of the US submarine fleet along with Russia, has three nuclear missile submarines, six nuclear attack submarines and 53 diesel-electric submarines. This is more than any other of the country's neighbors. However, the Chinese submarine fleet, apparently, will remain the third largest in size and combat capabilities in the world, unless, of course, China makes a qualitative leap in rearmament. Such a possibility is not excluded, given the close attention China has been paying in recent years to the development of its armed forces, and especially the navy.
In addition, recently the territorial disputes between the PRC and its neighbors have escalated precisely where the use of naval forces cannot be avoided. First of all, the matter concerns the division of the water area of the South China Sea. The small uninhabited islands located here are claimed by several neighboring states at once. Particularly acute is the dispute between China and Vietnam over the Spratly Islands and the Paracel Islands.
Meanwhile, the American press calls not to discount the capabilities of the Russian submarine fleet in its current state. For example, as the New York Times notes, "Russian submarines and reconnaissance ships are currently operating in close proximity to critical submarine cables that provide Internet connectivity to virtually the entire world."
US intelligence fears that in the event of a conflict with Russia, it could attack these cables, which could negate many of the US technological advantages. American analysts also complain that the Pentagon and NATO have paid little attention to anti-submarine operations in recent years, which has largely enabled Russia to increase its submarine power.
According to open sources, Russia really possesses at least several nuclear submarines with exceptional characteristics (primarily in terms of immersion depth), which even the United States does not have. There were reports of the presence of a top-secret nuclear submarine in the Main Directorate of Deep-Sea Research of the Russian Navy, capable of operating for several weeks at a depth of six kilometers. This is a unique achievement, and neither the United States nor China has such devices.
The chairman of the All-Russian Fleet Support Movement Mikhail Nenashev, in an interview with the VZGLYAD newspaper, expressed the opinion that talk about the complete superiority of the American navy over the Russian one is completely untenable.
“Let the Americans show at least one area of the World Ocean where we could not resist them or give back,” he said. Nenashev recalled the recent launch of Caliber missiles from a diesel submarine against IS positions in Syria, which demonstrated that Russia is producing such developments that, as the expert put it, “nullify all the verbal husk” regarding the complete superiority of the US and NATO. However, it is worth noting that in the West, "Caliber" is often called an analogue of the American "Tomahawks", which have been launched from American and British submarines for several decades.
“In addition, the professionalism of Russian submariners, which has increased over the five to seven years that active training in the seas and oceans has been going on, allows even the number of submarines that we have to solve both operational-tactical and strategic tasks. Of course, the Navy needs several dozen new submarines. But even now we do not advise the Americans to check its combat readiness in reality,”Nenashev said.
