One of the participants: Akula Class
The most extensive Russian
underwater exercise since the end of the Cold War is currently underway in the
frigid waters of the North Atlantic. No less than 10 Russian Navy submarines
are reported to be involved, eight of which are nuclear powered, according to
Norwegian intelligence.
The massive exercise is thought to
include tests of new weapons and
stressing of capabilities of individual classes of submarines involved,
including long-duration, deeply submerged operations. The exercise is also
likely to test U.S. and NATO forces' ability to track Russia's most capable
boats as they push through the Greenland, Iceland, United Kingdom Gap, better
known as the GIUK Gap—a major strategic bottleneck that is closely monitored.
If Russian submarines can break through undetected, they have a far better
chance of disappearing into the Atlantic to go about their potentially very
deadly business without being traced. During a time of war, this can include
wreaking havoc on Allied shipping and naval flotillas and executing pinpoint
attacks on key land targets.
Norwegian news outlet NRK,
which originally broke the story, states that Norwegian intelligence thinks it
has a decent idea of where at least some of the submarines currently are, but
this could change as the exercise could last as long as two months. The Barents Observer has
the areas listed:
·
Two nuclear submarines are west of the
Bear Island, between Svalbard and Finnmark, the northernmost part of mainland
Norway.
·
Two submarines are south and east of
the Bear Island, guarding the entrance to the eastern part of the Barents Sea.
·
Two Sierra class nuclear
submarines are training in the northern part of the Norwegian Sea.
The Sierra II class is among
Russia's most capable fast attack submarines, with their titanium hulls capable
of withstanding greater depths than their steel counterparts. They are known to
be extremely quiet, as well.
Unknown source via HIsutton.com
Sierra
II class SSN.
Also noted by NRK are the
assumed goals of the large-scale drill (translated):
"The goal for some of the
submarines is to get as far out into the Atlantic as possible without being
discovered. The entire voyage from the Northern Fleet bases in the Murmansk
region has been submerged... Russia's goal is to show that they are able to threaten
the US East Coast... Russia wants to say that "this is our sea", we
can do this. We are able to reach the United States... They want to test the
West's ability to detect and handle this..."
CIA.gov
GIUK Gap map from the Cold
War.
Russian submarines could also flood
into the GIUK Gap and the waters off Norway in a defensive posture to keep
American submarines and surface combatants from pushing northward during a
crisis. This would protect strategic Russian naval ports on the Barents Sea,
Russia's ballistic missile boats patrolling
the northernmost latitudes and hiding under the polar icecap, and its
increasingly strategic territorial holdings in the
Arctic.
After decades of atrophy, the U.S. and
its allies are slowly rebuilding their anti-submarine warfare capabilities in
and around the GIUK Gap. Most notably, the US Navy has bolstered its detachment of P-8 Poseidon
maritime patrol aircraft that operate out of Iceland. The US Navy has also reactivated the 2nd Fleet
and has greatly increased patrols
and exercises in the North Atlantic.
Still, if a number of Russian
submarines, including some of the country's most elusive types, push south
suddenly during the exercise, the U.S. and its allies may be very hard-pressed
to keep track of all of them. This all comes at a time when America's own
submarine force is overtasked, as well. No
matter how powerful a high-end nuclear fast attack submarine is, it can only be
in one place at one time, and that place is the pier more often than not. Other U.S. and Allied naval assets
with anti-submarine capabilities aren't exactly in great supply either.
Good news from RAF
Good news from RAF
There is some good news in terms of
extra help with keeping tabs on submarines in the North Atlantic coming in the
not so distant future. The United Kingdom received the first of nine Poseidon MRA Mk1 (P-8A) Poseidons today. Once
the fleet of aircraft is fully operational, it will plug a long-standing gap in
the UK's maritime patrol capability and could help greatly in monitoring and
hunting for Russian submarines pushing south through the GIUK Gap.
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