Manoj Ambat's Blog dealing with Defence, Foreign Affairs, Strategic Affairs and Politics

Russian Yasen class SSN ( Image credita- Wikimedia Commons / Author-  Пресс-служба Северного флота (г. Североморск) Source- The National Interest Author- Dave Majumdar The Russian attack submarine K-560 Severodvinsk has completed its first operational mission. The powerful new boat—the first of the Project 885 Yasen-class—embarked on its first mission earlier this year despite having been accepted into service with the Russian Navy in 2014 due to ongoing sea trials. Indeed, Severodvinsk has been in sea trials since 2011 as the Russian Navy and its contractors struggled to correct technical issues on the new submarines. “Congratulations to the crew of ASMC ‘Severodvinsk’ on the successful implementation of the objectives of military service and return to home base - the city of Zaozersk!” reads an Aug. 1, 2016, post on the Russian Submariners page on the Russian social media network VKontakte. “The event is significant not only for the submarine fleet, but for the ent

PLAN Submarine ( Image credits- VOA) Source- The National Interest Author- Lyle J. Goldstein One of the challenges of analyzing Chinese defense and foreign policy for Western strategists is that China often behaves quite differently than conventional paradigms for strategy development would otherwise predict. For example, Beijing’s focus on sea power development has been parsed in rather excruciating detail for well over a decade, but Beijing still wields just one (almost) operational, conventional aircraft carrier and a single overseas “support point” in Djibouti. That location, adjacent to the bases of several Western powers including the United States, hardly suggests aggressive intentions. But nowhere is China’s unique approach to military strategy as evident as in the nuclear strategy realm. It is true that Beijing’s initial restraint in creating its “minimal deterrent” during the 1960s and 1970s no doubt reflected severe resource constraints. However, there can

PLAN SSN ( Credits- Internet image) Source- The National Interest Author- Dave Majumdar Is China’s new Type 093B nuclear-powered attack submarine on par with the U.S. Navy’s Improved Los Angeles-class boats? At least some U.S. naval analysts believe so and contend that the introduction of the new People’s Liberation Army Navy (PLAN) submarines is an indication of just how quickly Beijing is catching up to the West. “The 93B is not to be confused with the 93. It is a transition platform between the 93 and the forthcoming 95,” said Jerry Hendrix, director of the Defense Strategies and Assessments Program at the Center for a New American Security—who is also a former U.S. Navy Captain. “It is quieter and it has a new assortment of weapons to include cruise missiles and a vertical launch capability. The 93B is analogous to our LA improved in quietness and their appearance demonstrates that China is learning quickly about how to build a modern fast attack boat.” O

Virginia Class USS North Dakota SSN ( Image credits- Wikimedia Commons / United States Navy) Source- The National Interest Author- Dave Majumdar Though Russia continues to develop and build newer and ever more capable nuclear attack submarines such as the Project 885M Yasen-class, the U.S. Navy continues to maintain its technological edge by incrementally improving its Virginia-class attack boats. “I think we have a very focused program called the acoustic superiority program to make sure that we in fact keep our technological lead—our acoustical advantage—and that's a focus of every one of our developmental programs,” Capt. Mike Stevens, Naval Sea Systems Command’s Virginia-class program manager told me at the Navy League’s Sea, Air and Space symposium on May 17. “It doesn't do any good to build submarines that aren’t up to par, so it’s a main part of our focus to make sure those submarine do maintain their acoustical advantage—not just today but 10, 20 years

INS Arihant SSBN ( Credits- Indian Navy) Source- The Diplomat Author- Abhijit Singh Last week, the Kalvari, India’s first indigenous stealth submarine’s sea trials outside Mumbai Harbour created considerable excitement in India’s maritime circles. The Kalvari is the first of India’s six submarines based on the Scorpene-class being built under the much-delayed Project 75. Its sail-around was widely seen as an important step forward in meeting the September 2016 target for the submarine’s commissioning. Despite the absence of its “primary weapon” – the heavyweight “Black-Shark” torpedoes – the Kalvari’s presence in the open seas emphasized India’s efforts at rejuvenating its indigenous submarine production program. While the project has faced long delays, Indian naval technicians and project managers have worked tirelessly to meet construction deadlines. The Kalvari’s appearance in the open seas last week then created new hope for India’s submarine ambitions. The cheery

Yasen class SSN at launch ( Image credits- Wikimedia Commons / Kremlin) Source- The National Interest Author- Dave Majumdar The Russian Navy’s first Project-885 Yasen-class nuclear-powered guided-missile submarine, K-329 Severodvinsk, is set to deploy on its first combat training mission. The new submarine recently completed operational testing after being accepted into service in June 2014. Prior to that, the boat had been undergoing pre-delivery sea trials since September 2011. “Operations trials of the Severodvinsk submarine are over and the submarine is ready to fulfill its designated missions,” Russian Northern Fleet spokesman Vadim Serga told the Moscow-based TASS news agency. “The Severodvinsk’s crew is currently completing measures necessary to put the submarine into service and to take to sea for planned combat training sessions." Severodvinsk and her more advanced Project-885M sister ships are capable vessels. “We’ll be facing tough potential o

INS Chakra ( Image credits- Wikimedia Commons / Indian Navy) Source- Russia & India Report Author-  Ivan Safronov , Kommersant Russian Defence Minister Sergey Shoigu and Manohar Parrikar, India’s Defence Minister discussed the lease of a second nuclear submarine to India. While discussing military-technical cooperation between the two countries during a telephone conversation on March 23, the two ministers agreed to work out details for the transfer, on a leasing agreement, of a second nuclear-powered submarine (NPS) to the Indian Navy. According to Kommersant, the situation is being complicated by different approaches to this issue. In New Delhi they want to rent the latest multi-purpose project 885 Yasen-class submarine, but the Russian Navy has its own plans for this sub. A compromise being considered is the transfer of a project 971 submarine. Kommersant learned about the phone conversation between the two ministers from an official Defence Ministry press

USS Topeka, SSN-754  ( Image credits- Wikimedia Commons / United States Navy) Source- The Diplomat Author- Prashanth Parameswaran On Tuesday, the U.S. navy confirmed that a U.S. fast-attack submarine arrived at a Philippine naval base. According to the U.S. navy in a statement, the Los Angeles-class fast-attack submarine USS Topeka (SSN 754) arrived at Subic Bay on January 12 as part of what was termed “its routine Indo Asia-Pacific deployment.” Topeka, which is around 300 feet long and weighs more than 6,000 tons, is capable of operating at depths greater than 800 feet at speeds up to 25 nautical miles per hour. Considered one of the world’s stealthiest submarines, it is capable of supporting various missions including anti-submarine warfare, anti-surface ship warfare, strike, surveillance and reconnaissance. The U.S. navy statement classified the USS Topeka’s trip as a port visit that offered an opportunity for both sides to foster valuable cultural exchang

INS Sindhughosh underway ( Image credits- Wikimedia Commons / United States Navy) Source- The National Interest Author- Dave Majumdar The Indian media is claiming that one of New Delhi’s Russian-built Kilo-class diesel-electric attack submarines managed to “sink” a nuclear-powered U.S. Navy Los Angeles-class attack submarine during exercises in October. The Indian submarine INS Sindhudhvaj (S56) allegedly “killed” USS City of Corpus Christi (SSN 705) during an exercise called Malabar that is held annually between India, Japan and the United States. According to the Indians, the submarines were assigned to track each other down in the Bay of Bengal. “The way it happens is that the Sindhudhvaj recorded the Hydrophonic Effect (HE) - simply put, underwater noise - of the nuclear powered submarine and managed to positively identify it before locking on to it. Being an exercise what did not happen was the firing,” an Indian naval officer told India Today. The Indian vessel

INS Chakra SSN ( Image credits- Wikimedia Commons / Indian navy) Source- Russia & India Report Author- Rakesh Krishna Simha Russia and India – either through design or happenstance – are set to engage the western navies in an interesting game of undersea hide and seek. Chasing nuclear submarines is how major navies earn their keep. The Russian and US fleets track each other’s subs on a 24/7 basis by listening to the acoustic signatures – a combination of noise emissions – that are unique to each type of submarine. For several decades the Americans held the advantage as they claimed to have quieter submarines. The Russians closed the gap by the mid-1980s and today their submarines have got the inside track on the US Navy. The net result is this undersea contest has become more intense now and the stakes are a lot higher too. Unlike surface ships and aircraft, submarines do not have markings or IFF (Identify Friend/Foe) codes that can out them. The only way

USS Virginia SSN-774 ( Image credits- Wikimedia Commons / United States Navy) Source- The National Interest Author- David Axe The U.S. Navy’s latest shipbuilding plan underscores what service leaders and lawmakers have long known — the Navy is going to have too few attack submarines. To compensate, the sailing branch wants to pack more firepower into the subs it will have. The Navy’s goal is to maintain at least 48 attack subs as part of a roughly 300-ship fleet. But the 2016 edition of the Navy’s shipbuilding plan, published in April, shows the total number of Los Angeles-, Seawolf– and Virginia-class nuclear-powered attack subs declining from 54 in 2015 to a low of 41 in 2029. “The decline is the result of the retirement … of Los Angeles-class attack submarines,” Eric Labs, an analyst with the official Congressional Budget Office, wrote in an October report. “Those ships are reaching the end of their 33-year service life, having generally been built at a rate of