Western media article: nuclear submarines, silent deterrence in the ocean

Source: Reference News Network

Reference News Network reported on October 29 that the website of the Spanish newspaper Le Monde published an article titled "Submarines: A Silent Threat in the Ocean and the World's Most Powerful Deterrent Weapon" on October 23, written by Pablo Pardo. The full text is excerpted below:

In American pop culture, Howard Hughes is more than just an eccentric entrepreneur and billionaire. On February 18, 1971, Hughes proposed an overly avant-garde project: to build a special ship capable of extracting minerals from the seabed at a depth of 5,000 meters. The ship, known as the Groma Explorer, is a nearly 200-meter-long monster with a drill tower in the center. It took nearly 3 years to design and build, and cost nearly a nuclear-powered aircraft carrier – that is, the equivalent of 10 billion euros today.

Launched in 1974, groema Explorer returned to base after attempting to extract manganese and iron from an area 5,000 metres deep on the north Pacific ocean floor, never to set sail again. The project failed.

Today, we know that the efforts of the Groma Explorer were successful. Of course it did not obtain a gram of iron or manganese. It's not actually looking for those things. The ship retrieved several Soviet ICBMs and parts of the Soviet K-129 submarine that sank in 1968 from the seabed. The Americans even found the remains of 6 K-129 crew members. Because of their high level of radioactivity, the remains were later buried in the sea.

The backbone of nuclear deterrence

The story makes it clear that Hughes's life experience goes far beyond the content of the James Bond films. Moreover, it also proves the importance of submarines in geostrategy in the 20th and 21st centuries. This is ironic, as such weapons are important equipment that is rarely mentioned in the media and political statements.

Everyone knows about nuclear-powered aircraft carriers, American bombers headed by "Bs", and American fighters headed by "F". But no one understands submarines. To give you an example: all the discussions about nuclear missiles have taken a lot of ink since the mid-1960s, but how many people know that for more than half a century, US and Soviet/Russian nuclear submarines have been the backbone of nuclear deterrence?

If the situation gets really bad one day, the 14 Ohio-class nuclear submarines on the U.S. side may be responsible for ending human existence. Each Ohio class is equipped with 24 sets of missile vertical launch systems. If all 14 ships are fully loaded with nuclear missiles, a total of 336 can be carried. Currently, half of america's active nuclear warheads are housed in these 170-meter-long monsters with a displacement of nearly 19,000 tons.

The importance of such weapons has been underscored by the crisis between France and the United States, Australia and Britain as Washington decided to sell nuclear submarines to Canberra. This may be the key problem for submarines.

There is very little information about them. But whenever they come to light, it's always about something serious. The news could have been a catastrophic accident, as in 2000, when russia's Nuclear submarine Kursk sank due to an explosion of an onboard torpedo, killing all 118 crew members. The accident exposed the problems of Russia's nuclear submarine force and could also cause environmental disasters with long-term repercussions.

The major powers did not provide information about the technical performance of this "silent death". They have been cruising in the oceans that occupy 2/3 of the Earth's surface, and we know even less about the underwater world than Mars.

Back to its glory days

In the 21st century, no matter how much Trump preaches the creation of the Space Force, the key to global deterrence remains submarines. In this regard, the United States is almost in a hegemonic position. After the collapse of the Soviet Union, the U.S. submarine force was actually the only underwater force that could continue to sail around the world in considerable numbers and frequencies. Britain, France, China, and India also had such equipment, but in much smaller quantities.

The growing interest in submarines shows that we are entering a world of fierce competition among great powers. After the Defeat of the Soviet Union in the Cold War, the importance of these submarines decreased. For example, the United States canceled its Seawolf-class attack submarine program (specialized in attacking other ships and submarines, especially those carrying nuclear missiles) and replaced it with another, smaller class, the Virginia class, whose mission also included spying and assisting in special forces infiltration in counterterrorism operations. Now, there is a clear arms race in the South China Sea. In this way, the submarine is back to its glory days.

Advantages of nuclear submarines

The advantages of submarines are obvious. First, they're hard to spot; second, they're moving almost all the time; and besides, there's cutting-edge technology. Although confidential, it is estimated that the nuclear warhead hit radius of the Trident II missile carried by the Us "Ohio" class and the British "Avant-Garde" class nuclear submarines is less than 50 meters. In other words, if all goes well, the error of hitting the target is less than the width of the football field.

That's why the agreement between the U.S. and Australia is so important. China has a long coastline, almost three times as long as Spain, and the deployment of multiple Australian nuclear submarines using U.S. technology in waters near China is an important step in curbing China's expansion plans.

The distinction between diesel-electric submarines (i.e., conventional submarines) and nuclear-powered submarines is important for two reasons: first, the former produces more noise and is therefore easier to detect; another reason is more important, nuclear-powered submarines have fission reactors, like a nuclear power plant, and they never need to be refueled. More importantly, it obtains oxygen through the electrolysis of seawater. This means that these submarines only need to surface when the crew runs out of food.