Indholdsfortegnelse for Issue 8 i War at Sea

SUBMARINES are the ultimate weapon of modern warfare and the most secret of any part of the armed forces. Nuclear boats seek to dominate and control the sub-terranean battlespace while diesel boats sit quietly and listen for the acoustic footprint of another vessel. The submarine community is often referred to as the silent service. These huge boats can lurk in the deep waters listening, watching and if needed give chase to an adversary. NATO forces rarely comment about their submarine operations and as China and Russia invest in new boats, both the US and UK fleets are preparing for the future. Across Europe, only France fields nuclear powered boats. India has built its first ballistic submarine while Brazil is in the process of procuring its first nuclear powered submarine. In…

The submarine is well suited to these waters – providing political influence and military power. Concerns about the future have resulted in Japan and other countries in the region reviewing their military options. More recently, Australia’s decision to buy nuclear powered submarines angered the Chinese government. Within days of the announcement PLAN forces mounted aggressive exercises near Taiwan and flew bombers over the island. Since the Tiananmen Square protests in 1989, when Chinese students called for political reform, which resulted in a massacre in which hundreds died, Beijing has done little to shed its ‘dictatorial and bullying reputation’. Growth in maritime force is central to Beijing’s bold economic ambitions and the ‘Rise of the Dragon’ is growing at a pace. Access to global oceans is critical to Beijing’s economic strategy…

Today, the submarine is the most powerful asset in modern warfare and increasingly, nations see these silent leviathans of the deep as the ultimate military asset in a hi-tech world where satellites can track planes, ships and almost anything – except a nuclear boat. Submarines can remain at sea for months, sit in the dark depths of the oceans listening for other submarines and be ready if ordered to launch a ballistic missile strike. Their covert capability allows them to patrol anywhere without trace generating an aurora of psychological anxiety for their foes who never know where they are or what they are doing. From the United States, Britain, China, France, Russia, India, North Korea, Iran, Japan, Turkey, Greece, Italy, Egypt, Pakistan, Sweden, Peru, Spain, Poland, Argentina and South Africa…

IN August 1990, Saddam Hussein’s Iraqi forces seized Kuwait in a military intervention. Baghdad’s aim was to secure the Gulf state’s oil reserves and expand the country’s authority in the Middle East. The United Nations called on Iraq to withdraw and on 6 August 1990, imposed a worldwide ban on trade with Iraq. President Hussein responded by formally annexing Kuwait. Iraq’s military ambition threatened Saudi Arabia, the world’s biggest oil exporter and prompted the United States and its western European allies in NATO to respond in support of Kuwait and prevent wider instability across the Gulf. Egypt and several other Arab nations joined the anti-Iraq Coalition in a mission which became known as Operation Desert Shield. Iraq increased its military garrison in Kuwait with more than 250,000 troops reported to…

The submarine service presents a strategic ‘silent threat’ that can be used as part of an information operation to deter adversary access to the sea through awareness of their presence. Today, all submarine services wear a qualification badge – usually a set of dolphins. The Royal Navy first issued badges in the 1950s and then adopted the current insignia in 1972. Crew serving in ballistic missile boats wear a smaller badge depicting the bigger submarines. Tactical awareness of an adversary was critical during the Cold War – the post-war period of geopolitical tension between the United States, the West and the then Soviet Union. During this time Soviet, US and UK nuclear submarines attempted to own the waters of the North Atlantic and Norwegian sea and the North Sea to…

These new state-of-the-art submarines are being deployed as the future ‘instruments of state’ ready to influence political policy in support of President Putin’s geopolitical aspirations. New Borei and Yasen-class nuclear-powered submarines now sit with the Northern Fleet and at least one Typhoon submarine is listed as being in the active reserve. It also maintains Oscar, Sierra, Victor and Delta-class nuclear subs, which while having undergone upgrades are more than 30 years old. Moscow’s Northern Fleet is based around Murmansk and the Kola Peninsula in the Arctic Circle. Its headquarters is located at Severomorsk with six nearby bases at Polyarnyy, Olenya Bay, Gadzhiyevo, Vidyayevo including covering Ura Bay and Ara Bay, as well as Bolshaya Lopatka, and Gremikha where the fl eet’s submarines are based. The Barents Sea is their backyard…