Regarding SUBMARINES: The U.S. Navy Confronts the Threat From Below
Two points.
1) The article states: While our allies operate better (quieter, better trained crews and superior electronics) subs than our potential opponents have, they are not available often enough for our ASW crews to perfect their skills.
China and Iran have bought brand-new, top-of-the-line, Kilo-class diesel subs from Russia and the Pentagon is considering procuring eight very quiet Kilo-class submarines from Russia for resale to Taiwan. #msg-3333316
Can we list Russia as an ally?
2) The Chinese, Iranians and North Koreans keep their subs within territorial waters most of the time.
From what China has been saying it looks like they will be the first potential opponent to break the trend and head for the high seas.
China however is unlikely to join Japan in financing safety measures for the Strait but will do what it can to ensure security on the high seas. #msg-3404130 #msg-3530012
Construction has begun on about 70 military ships over the last 12 months, including a number of landing craft, and China is considering acquisition of another two Soviet-designed Sovremenny-class destroyers to complement the three it already owns, he added. More Kilo-class submarines are the subject of negotiations or already purchased, adding to the four bought several years ago. #msg-2646136
North Korea could soon be able to target US with missiles: study
"If you can get a missile aboard a warship, in particular aboard a submarine...you can move your submarine to strike at targets such as Hawaii or the United States, just as examples. Whereas it would be much more difficult to actually develop a ground-launched missile to achieve that sort of a range," Kemp said.
Mr. Kemp says the sea-launched missile would be the most threatening.
Jane's says the next step for North Korea will be to build submarines capable of launching the new missiles. It is not clear how long that would take. But the magazine says North Korea did gain technological insight from some decommissioned Soviet submarines it bought from Japanese scrap metal dealers 12 years ago. http://www.voanews.com/article.cfm?objectID=AA9B7B6A-E373-4C15-BC2ED50E203A2BEF
I am reading that North Korea already has the new diesel-electric submarines which, when running just on batteries, are much more difficult to find than those always loud Soviet nukes. I would be surprised if they could not already launch the new missiles from submarines.
The Chinese, Iranians and North Koreans keep their subs within territorial waters most of the time. They won’t come out on the high seas to play with our ASW people. So we have to arrange play dates with allies who operate diesel-electric subs. These allies usually kick out butts, because they practice sneaking around all the time, and our ASW folks get too little practice to deal with these experienced crews. #msg-3692646
-Am
North Korea could soon be able to target US with missiles: study (AFP)
3 August 2004
LONDON - North Korea is developing a pair of new ballistic missile systems, including a sea-launched model, which could soon enable the Stalinist state to target the United States, a leading military publication said on Tuesday.
“Both these new land and sea-based systems appreciably expand the ballistic missile threat presented by the DPRK,” a report in Jane’s Defence Weekly said, using the official name for the country, the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea.
The version of the missile capable of being launched from submarines or ships “is potentially the most threatening”, Janes’ said.
“It would fundamentally alter the missile threat posed by the DPRK and could finally provide its leadership with something that it has long sought to obtain -- the ability to directly threaten the continental US.”
Information about North Korea’s military capabilities in invariably sketchy given the ultra-secretive nature of its hardline communist regime, ruled for the past half-century by father-and-son dictators Kim Il-Sung and Kim Jong-Il.
However the country is known to possess ballistic missile technology. In August 1998, Pyongyang stunned the world by test-launching a Taepodong-1 missile over Japan, officially claiming it was a satellite launch.
Four years later the United States said North Korea had acknowledged it was developing nuclear weapons, prompting a series of as-yet unsuccessful talks involving Washington as well as China, South Korea, Russia and Japan.
According to Jane’s Defence Weekly, North Korea is working on a pair of missile systems based on Russian technology, completely different to the Taepodong-1 and its mooted successor, the Taepodong-2, reportedly being tested.
The new systems are based on the defunct Soviet R-27 submarine-launched ballistic missile, known to NATO at the time as the SS-N-6, Jane’s said.
The land-based model has an estimated range of 2,500 to 4,000 kilometres (1,560 to 2,500 miles), bringing into range all of East Asia, as well as Hawaii and US military bases on the Pacific islands of Okinawa and Guam.
The sea-launched model could be fired at least 2,500 kilometres, the article said.
He said the moves are a strong sign that China is preparing for military action that might involve sending a fleet of submarines to cross the U.S. defensive line along Japan, Taiwan and the Philippines.
China and Iran have bought brand-new, top-of-the-line, Kilo-class diesel subs from Russia. #msg-3333316
The ‘Onyx’ missile means that Russia or China can sink American aircraft carriers at will without ever having to escalate to nuclear warfare, which gives both countries a massive strategic advantage. #msg-3429768
-Am
Taiwan says Chinese Ships Map US Defense Line VOA News 23 Aug 2004, 10:48 UTC
Taiwan Prime Minister Yu Shyi-kun has accused China of mapping underwater terrain in the Pacific in preparation for a possible conflict with the United States. Mr. Yu made his comments Saturday at a gathering of Taiwanese community representatives in New York during a stopover Saturday on his return from Latin America.
Mr. Yu said Chinese surveillance ships sailed close to Japanese waters 14 times last year and seven times this year. He added that mainland vessels have also made numerous intrusions into Taiwan's territorial waters.
He said the moves are a strong sign that China is preparing for military action that might involve sending a fleet of submarines to cross the U.S. defensive line along Japan, Taiwan and the Philippines.
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