U.S. submarines tracked Soviet submarines more than two thousand times during the Cold War
On February 12, 2022, a note was handed to a representative of the Office of the Military Attache for Defense at the US Embassy in Moscow at the Main Directorate of International Military Cooperation of the Russian Ministry of Defense in connection with the violation of the state border of the Russian Federation by a US Navy submarine. What was the American submarine doing in our waters and what can we counter such actions?
Not the first note of protest
On February 12, 2022, at 10.40 (Moscow time), a US Navy submarine of the Virginia type was discovered in the area of a planned exercise of the Pacific Fleet forces in the territorial waters of the Russian Federation near the island of Urup in the Kuril Ridge.
In the mode of sound-underwater communication, a message was transmitted to the crew of a foreign submarine in Russian and English: "You are in the territorial waters of Russia. Surface immediately!".
“As long as Russia has the world's second submarine force, or, as representatives of the US Navy like to say at briefings, "the bear is still swimming," it means that it needs to be monitored."
The crew of the American submarine ignored the demand of the Russian side. In accordance with the guiding documents on the protection of the state border of the Russian Federation in the underwater environment, the crew of the frigate of the Pacific Fleet Marshal Shaposhnikov used appropriate means. The American boat used a self-propelled simulator to split targets on radar and acoustic monitoring equipment and left the territorial waters of the Russian Federation at maximum speed.
The Americans were told that the actions of the US submarine are regarded as a gross violation of international law. The provocation has created a threat to our national security. The Russian Defense Ministry insists on the need for measures by the United States to exclude such situations in the future. And reserves the right to take all possible measures in its territorial waters to ensure the security of the Russian Federation. But this is not the first time that US warships have penetrated our waters.
The almost half-century period of the Cold War (1946-1992) did not teach Americans anything. And a new round of it after thirty years of "detente" seems to begin today. The signal for this is the discovery in Russian territorial waters off the Kuril Ridge on February 12, 2022 of another Missouri submarine, which conducted covert surveillance of the Pacific Fleet exercises.
Secrets of underwater warfare
The Cold War period holds many secrets, which remain so today. For example, during this period, American submarines carried out more than two thousand reconnaissance operations under the cover of secrecy only to track down Soviet submarines. Many ended tragically.
For Soviet sailors, American submariners were not enemies, but evil omnipresent parasites that filled all the pores of the ocean. They were ordered to take risks, and some submarines penetrated even into Soviet bases, as well as into the areas of exercises of the Soviet Navy. At the same time, the basic instructions remained in force: to avoid detection and to keep the Soviet Navy in absolute ignorance. From the Russian side, such observation was also conducted, but somewhat milder, because the tasks were not set so rigidly.
Americans do not refuse to monitor Russian submarines and exercises of the Russian Navy even today. In their opinion, as long as Russia has the world's second submarine force or, as representatives of the US Navy like to say at briefings, "the bear is still swimming," it means that it needs to be monitored. It is quite possible that this was the cause of the Kursk submarine tragedy in August 2000. After all, there are still questions about this. But then this tragedy was hushed up, as they say, because we had friendly relations with the United States.
And today? There was a full possibility of a repeat of such a tragedy when, on February 12, 2022, a US submarine was detected near the island of Urup of the Kuril Ridge in the area of Pacific Fleet exercises in the territorial waters of Russia by an Il-38 anti–submarine aircraft and a TOPF submarine (most likely of the Lada type - our very low-noise submarine). The aircraft and the submarine transferred contact with her to the KPUG (ship-search strike group), which began to act according to the established rules. How she acted specifically was not reported in the open press. But the result is obvious – a foreign submarine has left our territorial waters. The United States has acknowledged the presence of its submarine in this area, although it denies the fact of violating Russia's borders. Such a case was ordinary during the Cold War, but then there were some rules and agreements, today they have been forgotten.
At the same time, everyone knew that if a foreign submarine was detected in our territorial waters, it was given a signal to ascend (international) - the explosion of three grenades. But these signals spy boats, as a rule, also did not comply and rapidly left our territorial waters. In this connection, the commander-in-chief of the USSR Navy was even forced to issue an order – if a foreign submarine found in territorial waters did not surface by order, then it was allowed to use weapons to kill until it left the territorial waters of the USSR. Then this order cooled down many hotheads and violations sharply decreased. Perhaps it's time to remember the old rules.
One thing is clear: this case means one of two things - the monitoring of the activities of the Russian Navy continues or the US submarine was deliberately set up in order to provoke active search actions by the Navy in order to open our anti-submarine defense system in this area.
Angelic patience
There has always been a huge risk that some kind of accident with a submarine could destabilize the situation and ignite a real military conflict. From time to time, the opinion has been publicly expressed that this can happen whenever a submarine is detected in our territorial waters, and that any underwater collision will necessarily be followed by an act of retaliation. Fortunately, in the case of the Kursk submarine tragedy in 2000, this was avoided. But times are changing.
The threat of naval confrontation has been understood for a long time. If we turn to the Caribbean crisis of 1962, then the US public never found out how scared its government was that the Union was ready to intensify naval confrontation and even go to extreme measures.
A few months before the Caribbean crisis, a defector from the USSR provided materials that became known as "Eucalyptus Documents– - details of the Soviet plan to use tactical nuclear weapons against American ships and submarines in the event of a war at sea. The advisers of President John F. Kennedy were haunted by the idea that the Soviet Union could have already taken initial measures on this plan. Indeed, Kennedy feared that any naval battle could worsen the crisis with or without the use of nuclear weapons. When he established a naval blockade of Cuba, a Soviet submarine was spotted alongside two Soviet transport vessels. Upon learning about this, Kennedy asked his aides: "Is there any way to avoid our skirmish with a Russian submarine? Anything but that."
This example shows the special role of underwater forces in world politics. But the current US leadership, apparently, has partially lost the logical thinking of its predecessors. Today we are ready to make various compromises and even, as they say, to get lost, just not to aggravate the situation. That is why the case of the "Virginia" type submarine looks more than strange. Such impudent behavior of US submariners can lead to tragic consequences. And there is no guarantee that the tragedy with the Kursk submarine may not happen again.
Vadim Kulinchenko, retired captain of the 1st rank
The newspaper "Military-Industrial Courier", published in issue No. 9 (922) for March 15, 2022
