Despite its relatively modest size, Russian diesel-electric submarines pose a real threat to the US Navy, writes 19fortyfive. The problem is their noiselessness - even compared to nuclear-powered ships. American sailors know this and do not like non-nuclear submarines produced in Russia. In NATO, ships of the Varshavyanka type were nicknamed "Black Holes" for their secrecy. The second problem is that the low visibility of Russian submarines is known all over the world and they are willing to buy them. That's why problem #1 is spreading all over the globe.
- The search for a diesel submarine running on batteries under water is very difficult due to the nature of its acoustic "portrait" (or rather, almost complete absence of one), - US Navy veteran Kevin Noonan told The Drive. As an operator of the S-3 Viking anti-submarine aircraft, he has been searching for submarines for many years and likes to remember the briefing before departure. The foreman lit an electric torch and said: "That's what a diesel submarine sounds like." And everyone listened to the silence.
The US Navy learned a long time ago about how noisy a nuclear-powered vessel can be, where only the reactor works silently - since the SOSUS system deployed in the North Atlantic detected the first American Nautilus submarine crossing the ocean. By the way, Russian submariners quickly learned how to cheat SOSUS on both nuclear submarines and diesel submarines.
The price for the noiselessness of non-nuclear submarines is a low underwater speed. Any attempt to exceed the economical stroke leads to a rapid discharge of batteries. Therefore, five knots under water remain a constant for "diesels" until some next technological breakthrough. And the small size of diesel-electric submarines also creates problems for hunters after them.
- The sonar pulse - especially high-frequency - quickly loses energy in the water. A small target reflects less energy," Noonan continued. - And what is reflected will be lost on the way back from the target to the sonar receiver.
Anton Valagin
