ARCTIC OCEAN (July 1, 2008) The fast attack submarine USS Providence (SSN 719) is moored at the North Pole in the Arctic Ocean to commemorate the 50th anniversary of the first submarine polar transit completed by the USS Nautilus (SSN 571) in 1958. Providence is en route to the U.S. 7th Fleet area of responsibility from its homeport in Groton Conn. (U.S. Navy photo by Yoeman 1st Class J. Thompson/Released)What Is State Of The Art In Submarine Detection? -- Behind Blue Lines
If published reports are to be believed, the US Navy neglected its anti-submarine warfare (ASW) capabilities after the conclusion of the Cold War. At that time, the only potentially hostile nation with a global submarine fleet was Russia and while Russia made great strides in quieting its later classes of attack submarines, there was no money or industrial base after the Soviet Union’s fall even to maintain its current fleet.
Because of the reduction in perceived threat, the Navy pared down its ASW patrol presence – particularly in the Atlantic – and closed key bases that supported patrol squadrons, redirecting aging patrol aircraft to other, non-ASW missions. At the same time, the Navy also reduced its ASW training budget for the surface fleet with some units never participating in coordinated and realistic ASW exercises in spite of the tiered requirements set down in the Surface Force Training Manual and as required during Inter-Deployment Training Cycles (link is to a Rand report on comparative ASW training between DDG-51 destroyer crews and their British and French counterparts).
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My Comment: It appears that a revolution in submarine detection technologies is now underway that would make "silent submarines" a thing of the past. A must read for all submariners.
Hat Tip: New Wars
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