In Through The Out Door

South Korea launched its third Type 214 submarine last week. While it is often noted the quantity of naval growth taking place in China and India, we continue to observe both growth and quality in the naval forces being produced by South Korea. The addition of Type 214s to the naval mix by [...]

I would link to the press release, but it doesn’t exist. New photography this week highlights the 3rd Yuan Class submarine has been launched. The first photo is a comparison of the first two Yuan class submarines launched, with the remaining photo’s of the 3rd Yuan recently launched.
The 2008 [...]

How dangerous is China? Ask the Russians, who are organizing their lawyers to go after the one place China seems to take seriously, their wallet. There has been some very interesting discussions taking place over in Russia, and it turns out, while they didn’t really care that the Type 39 Song [...]

Has China “secretly built a major underground nuclear submarine base that could threaten Asian countries and challenge American power in the region”? Thomas Harding, writing in the London Daily Telegraph early this month, has declared that it is.
According to Hardy, “Satellite imagery, passed to The Daily Telegraph, shows that a substantial harbour has been built [...]

This is a pretty good hi res photo of a PLAN Russian Kilo class submarine. At most she has been in service for what, 4 years tops?
Sexy. However, sometimes it is about perspective. I think these photo’s are the same submarine.
Updated: My commenter’s as usual are much smarter than me, and [...]

In the CRS report by Ronald O’Rourke on PLAN modernization there is an interesting table that outlines the commissionings of PLAN submarines by year starting in 1995. Because good hard data is difficult regarding the PLAN, this might be the most useful chart yet on the subject.
According to this [...]

At first, we were not really sure where the interesting Carrier vs Subs series by Martin Sieff was going, and to be honest, it is still unclear where his conclusions lie, but as a discussion topic we find the series quite interesting and compelling for analysis. The first, second, and third [...]

UW Seaglider draws U.S. military attention

In discussing PLAN submarines lately, we thought it might be interesting to put the recent shipbuilding production into context. Based on our discussion and review the other day, we note that in the 5 years from January 2003 to December 2007 we can account with a good deal of certainty China [...]

Back in November we pointed out that the US appears to have lost control of its nuclear policy in relation to Russia. We highlighted that the United States will spend $448M in the FY08 budget on dismantling Russian nuclear weapons, which is a good cause, but by paying for the dismantling it is [...]

While American press reports continually headline China’s buildup of naval forces, in reality there is only one warship category in which the Chinese Navy is superior to the U.S. fleet — diesel-electric submarines. In no other category is the People’s Liberation Army (PLA) Navy even close to U.S. Navy force levels or capabilities.
The Chinese have [...]

Here’s a rare look inside a Russian sub. Note the Jules Verne vibe surrounding the design — all the tubes, wires, and pipes. This shows the classic Cold War era Soviet approach to the problem that stands in sharp contrast to the relatively anticeptic look of American submarines. And dig the sound of [...]

The Global War on Terror has gelled as a bloody slugfest in which information is power and perceptions are everything. Many terrorist activities take place in or near coastal population centers, span littorals, and transit oceans and seas. This new type of fighting –- assymetric and amorphous –- has required the constant updating [...]

From an alert DT reader… Russian Sub Test Fires Ballistic Missile: Navy Spokesman By AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE, MOSCOW Dec 17, 2007 A Russian submarine on December 17 successfully test-fired a new ballistic missile from the Barents Sea to the far east of the country, a navy spokesman said. The Sineva missile was launched from [...]

Russia’s Sevmash shipyard at the Arctic city of Severodvinsk has completed a hybrid submarine powered by a diesel-electric plant and a small nuclear reactor. Designated B-90 and named Sarov, the submarine was completed on 17 December. The submarine is known as Project 20120 in Russian design terminology. She apparently employs the small nuclear [...]

A commercial satellite image appears to have captured China’s new nuclear ballistic missile submarine. The new class, known as the Jin-class or Type 094, is expected to replace the unsuccessful Xia-class (Type 092) of a single boat built in the early 1980s.

1 of the 4 older Bangor boomers converted to a conventional SSGN SOF platform

Paul: After more than 23 years of service, the Los Angeles-class nuclear-powered fast-attack submarine USS Minneapolis-St…. Concerns remain that our shrinking fleet is going to leave us with our pants down at some point, and that our anti-sub warfare capabilities (or, rather, our lack thereof) could leave serious gaps waiting to be exploited. Two world wars showed that submarine fleets were able to have a drastic effect on the wider military and economic efforts of the combatants. While no one is going to challenge our supremacy in the realm of carrier-centered naval power, even just the threat of submarines could potentially keep those carriers from operating when and where we need them to…. The attack sub fleet is part of the ASW effort, and when you couple the shrinking hunter fleet with the retirement of the S-3 Vikings, the delays in the P-3 Orion’s follow-on (the P-8A Poseidon MMA), and questions about the Littoral Combat Ship (LCS) program, I suspect that we’ve got…

Four of them have been removed from strategic service and have been converted to SSGN cruise missile subs. USS Ohio (SSGN 726) and USS Florida (SSGN 728) rejoined the fleet last year, USS Michigan (SSGN 727) just rejoined the fleet a couple of weeks ago, and USS Georgia (SSGN 729) should rejoin this fall…. Unlike the attack sub force, which has been nearly halved since 1990 with more cuts to come, the missile sub force has not been cut back nearly so much. Though Northrop Grumman’s Newport News recently said it was ready and willing to start designing the next class of boomer, no current plans call for new boats. If the attack sub fleet finds itself scrambling to justify its existence in an age of asymmetric land warfare, the missile subs have an even tougher task in convincing budgeters of the need for a massive nuclear deterrent in a post-Mutually Assured Destruction world….