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WORLD WAR III Title: Submarine sales on the rise, and to some disturbing customers In case you’re wondering whether the current climate of international tension and uncertainty is beginning to spread, one good indicator is the rising sales trends for convention (i.e. non-nuclear powered) submarines. The Wall Street Journal has a long report this weekend on the subject which is definitely worth a read. Sales of these next generation subs are projected to double what was seen in recent years and one of the biggest benefactors of this “boom in boomers” is Saab. The list of countries either getting into or expanding the global submarine force includes a few ominous entries. I’ve never really paid much attention to the conventional submarine fleets, mostly because I suppose I’ve still been stuck in the mindset of cold war when I was in the Navy. Diesel subs were always out there, but the “big boys” in the game didn’t tend to give them a lot of thought. They couldn’t stay submerged for very long and tended to be noisy, making them easy to locate, identify and neutralize if need be. It was mostly a largely unseen game played by a handful of nations with nuclear boats, led by the United States and Russia. But as you’ll find in the Wall Street Journal article, the new generation of conventional subs are very impressive indeed. They employ hydrogen – oxygen fuel cells in addition to their improved diesels, and can run in almost absolute silence for extended periods. The Germans had one stay under for eighteen days without firing up the engines, (allegedly not the limit of their range) which is enough to give superpower war planners pause. And assuming they’ve figured out the cavitation problems with their propellers, while running on those fuel cell powered batteries, they could be extremely difficult to track. There aren’t any details given about what sort of offensive capabilities they’re packing these days, but it’s not difficult to believe that they are more formidable than they used to be. Submarine warfare is a lot more complicated and fraught with potential peril than meetings between surface ships. Getting this sort of technology into the hands of some countries who don’t like the west much to begin with, particularly on a large scale, adds disturbing new levels to the international diplomacy situation. Post Comment Private Reply Ignore Thread Top • Page Up • Full Thread • Page Down • Bottom/Latest Submarine warfare is a lot more complicated and fraught with potential peril than meetings between surface ships. Just GREAT! I thought drones were an issue, now itsie-bitsie submarines packing a nuclear warhead. When does all this nonsense stop?
#2. To: buckeroo (#1) It's been a long time since non-nuclear subs had to be considered as a serious nuclear weapons platform. That began to change when Israel got the three German subs and converted them into nuclear-tipped cruise missile launch platforms. It seems that a number of players including Russia and China are exploring this new space of smaller diesel-hybrid subs. Russia continues a quiet revival of its key shipyard capabilities. Anyway, small subs are back in the picture in a way they haven't been in many decades.
#3. To: TooConservative (#2) When I was a kid, I read MAD Magazine very often. I enjoyed SPY vs. SPY and here we experience the real outcome. These national governments are not protecting their citizenry. They are collecting taxes for do nothing bureaucracies (ex: NSA - data mining) that leads nowhere. And those that love their nation go along with the BS.
#4. To: buckeroo (#3) When I was a kid, I read MAD Magazine very often. Your higher education is very telling. And the words of the LORD are flawless, like silver refined* in a furnace of clay, purified seven times. Psalm 12:6 #5. To: GarySpFC (#4) Your higher education is very telling. The clue is a wee bit of climbing out of a box to understand the world around the perspectives that I occupy in both space&tyme. I do not believe in any religion or government of any kind. The real world, simply stated, is based on individual, family and group survival. My education is actually fairely primitive as a result, since I don't subscribe to MSM chit-chat or any church or an government doctrines.
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