The Adventures of Chester: The silent service

The Washington Times carries an interesting article detailing modifications made to naval submarine doctrine and usage after 9/11.

Submarines have two attributes that make them effective against terrorists -- stealth and persistence. Unlike surface ships, submarines can stay concealed in the sea, rising to periscope depth to take pictures, listen to electronic transmissions and collect other intelligence. Unlike the airplanes or satellites that pass over a target, submarines can stay on station for weeks or months.
The fast attack submarines, in addition to traditional torpedoes, are armed with 12 cruise missiles with conventional warheads. The submarines can also land six-man special operations teams to collect intelligence or conduct raids, then return to pick up the teams.
The Pacific submarine fleet has had so many missions assigned to it recently that it no longer sends submarines to the Persian Gulf or Arabian Sea to support the war in Iraq. That duty has been turned over to the U.S. Atlantic Fleet.
During the next five years, about eight submarines will be reassigned to the Pacific Fleet from the Atlantic, meaning the Pacific Fleet will account for about 60 percent of the submarine force. Two will be the USS Seawolf and USS Connecticut, the most advanced boats in the fleet. The home ports to which they will be assigned have not been decided yet, said a spokesman for the Pacific submarine command.
The newest addition to the Pacific Fleet is the USS Ohio, which has been converted from a ballistic missile submarine to a boat armed with 154 Tomahawk cruise missiles that can be fired covertly one at a time or many in a salvo. When launched near land, the cruise missiles can duck under a radar screen to hit targets before an adversary can react or they can loiter over a target shortly before striking.

Commentary

I love submarines. You know what submariners call surface ships? Targets.

Posted by Chester on November 29, 2006 6:32 PM to The Adventures of Chester