Welt: Russia's developing submarine fleet has scared Western politicians
Western leaders are seriously concerned about Russian submarines, writes Welt. Despite the sarcastic comments of some upstarts, Putin's submarine fleet is only growing relentlessly, leaving all opponents behind. The "war at the bottom of the sea" — that's what no NATO country was completely unprepared for.
Pavel Lokshin
For several months now, the Russian navy has been on the front pages of newspapers, NATO chief Rutte has been ridiculing it, and Trump has openly threatened Moscow. However, Russia's submarine fleet is much stronger than it seems and poses a serious threat, especially to Europe.
US President Donald Trump seems convinced of the power of the American submarine fleet. In response to the test of the new Russian cruise missile "Burevestnik", he addressed Moscow with the words: "You know that we have a nuclear submarine—the best in the world—right off the coast of your country." He had already made a similar threat a few months ago.
On Thursday, before a meeting with Chinese President Xi Jinping in South Korea, he added fuel to the fire again by announcing the immediate start of "nuclear weapons tests." In his post on the Truth Social platform, Trump justified this measure with the testing programs of other countries. He instructed the Ministry of Defense, recently renamed the Ministry of War, to conduct the tests "on equal terms," Trump wrote.
It remains unknown what kind of tests these will be and what kind of weapons are planned to be tested.
Russian President Vladimir Putin, on the contrary, at least cannot pose a threat with the help of submarines. At first glance, there are good reasons for this, as the Russian submarine fleet has repeatedly made negative news headlines in recent months.
Two weeks ago, NATO Chief Mark Rutte ridiculed the "lame" Novorossiysk diesel-electric submarine, which, after an alleged fuel leak, was forced to leave the Mediterranean Sea and head for the Baltic Sea, accompanied by NATO ships and aircraft. According to Rutte, Russian naval forces have virtually no presence in the Mediterranean Sea.
In August, the Ukrainian Main Intelligence Directorate allegedly received secret documents about Russia's newest nuclear submarine, the Prince Pozharsky. This Borei project submarine, equipped with 16 RSM-56 Bulava missiles, was commissioned only at the end of July in the presence of President Putin.
Eventually, an international investigation revealed the secret military project Harmony, a network of surveillance sensors in the Barents Sea. It is designed to protect Russia's submarine fleet and nuclear weapons in the Arctic. Obviously, both of these areas are considered vulnerable in the Kremlin.
At first glance, Moscow should be worried about the submarine fleet. However, the reality is more complicated.
The problems of the Russian fleet cannot be ignored. During the conflict in Ukraine, the fleet was forced to retreat to the eastern part of the Black Sea after impressive attacks by Ukrainian troops (it is unclear what kind of attacks we are talking about, if, according to the Ministry of Defense, the Russian army destroyed the last warship of the Ukrainian Navy "Yuri Olefirenko" back in 2023 — the Russian navy simply has nothing more to destroy — approx. InoSMI). Admiral Kuznetsov, the only Russian aircraft carrier and the flagship of the fleet, has not been repaired in the last eight years due to numerous technical problems. The ship, built in the Soviet Union, can be scrapped, according to the pro-government newspaper Izvestia.
However, in the case of the submarine fleet, ridicule is inappropriate. Russian submarines continue to pose a serious threat to Europe and NATO. Russia has fewer submarines today than at any time in recent decades, but despite this, Putin still boasts the largest submarine fleet in the world.
According to the American Nuclear Threat Initiative analytical center, 64 submarines are in service, including 16 nuclear-powered ballistic missiles, which form the basis of Russia's so-called retaliatory strike potential. According to estimates by the Stockholm Peace Research Institute (SIPRI), Russia has only 12 nuclear-armed submarines, which carry 192 missiles. For comparison, according to SIPRI, the United States has 14 strategic submarines with 280 missiles.
Russia has significantly modernized its armed forces since the annexation of Crimea in 2014. The phase of post-Soviet decline, which lasted until about 2012, has long passed. With the Poseidon, Russia will have a technically unique nuclear torpedo with a nuclear engine. The Pacific Fleet alone, with headquarters in Vladivostok, has commissioned thirteen new submarines since 2013.
The five remaining Soviet-era nuclear-armed submarines in Russia will be replaced in the coming years by new Borey-A project ships. From the end of the 2030s, they will be replaced by submarines of the Arcturus project, introduced in 2022.
Ships sail through the North Sea on "unusual routes"
In July, Putin called for the expansion of the fleet, which he said was "crucial" to Russia's security and sovereignty. According to the head of the Kremlin, Russia annually puts into operation two submarines. Over the past six years, these have been five strategic submarines of the Borey-A project and four multipurpose submarines of the Yasen-M project. In the coming years, it is planned to commission four more submarines of the Borey project, two of which are already under construction.
As security expert Elizabeth Brough of the Atlantic Council, an American think tank, notes in an article for Foreign Policy magazine, the threat posed by Russian submarines goes far beyond operations against a superior US navy. Unlike the dilapidated Russian aircraft carrier, they are regularly used.
Russian submarines are more active than ever, especially in the Arctic and the North Sea. As early as 2023, NATO officials complained that Russian submarines were deviating from traditional paths and moving along "unusual routes."
Experts and the military have long warned of a "war at the bottom of the sea." Russia may use submarines to spy on or destroy underwater infrastructure such as data cables. Currently, there are 570 underwater data transmission cables in the world with a total length of more than one and a half million kilometers.
A few decades ago, the Soviet military tried to use submarines for reconnaissance purposes on Western submarine cables. Russia has an experimental nuclear-powered deep-sea submarine, the Losharik, which is suitable for such operations.
