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Here’s a thought experiment: what if, suddenly, all the world’s submarines could no longer submerge? There they would be, on the surface of the ocean, slow, unwieldy, with no effective protection against attack. They’d be sitting ducks. Fanciful? Perhaps not. With a high probability, something very like this awaits the world’s submarines within the next couple of decades. Submarines are classic stealth predators. They have only one big trick — their invisibility — and they rely on it utterly to mount a successful attack. In that respect, they are no different from sabre-tooth tigers or trapdoor spiders. And like such...

Pictures have emerged in China of a new submarine-launched variant of the YJ-18 supersonic anti-ship missile. The pictures show two slides from a presentation given by a retired People's Liberation Army Navy (PLAN or Chinese Navy) Rear Admiral at a Univertisty in August. Launch capsule of the YJ-18 submarine launched variant The first picture shows a launch capsule (the vehicle for the underwater part of the launch) which appears similar in shape and size to the Russian Kalibr capsule. The second image shows the missile breaking the surface during a test launch. While some open sources refer to the submarine...

Australia would have no way of stopping an intrusion by a major power if the government did not invest in modified off-the-shelf submarines, a defence expert warned as debate over the nation’s submarine capability reignites. An independent report released yesterday into the $50 billion future submarine project — Defence’s largest acquisition — called for the urgent purchase of six new off-the-shelf submarines on top of the 12 Shortfin Barra­cudas selected by the Turnbull government last year. The report from consulting firm Insight Economics, Australia’s Future Submarine: Getting This Key Capability Right, drew a fierce rebuke from Defence Minister Marise Payne...

BEIJING: China has added a new nuclear-powered submarine to its fast expanding fleet but experts believe that it is not the most advanced version as speculated earlier, official media reported today. The new submarine is stated to be 69th conventional and nuclear submarines, according to unofficial estimates by global defence think-tanks. A new nuclear submarine has been turned over to the People's Liberation Army Navy (PLAN), state-run Global Times today quoted an official with the China Shipbuilding Industry Corporation or CSIC as saying. However, experts believe that this submarine is not the most advanced Type 096, which is China's next...

The South Korean Navy's submarine SSK Lee Eok Gi (SS-071) wobbled a bit, setting sail from the country's newest naval port on Jeju Island. The slight odor of oil that filled the cramped, windowless diesel-electric sub made some of the strangers aboard worry about getting seasick. "This is (like) a lake," Cdr. Kang Byung-oh, the captain of the 1,200-ton sub, told a small group of reporters in the torpedo room, which doubles as a briefing room, last week. "The waves are only about 1.5 meters high. When we came here yesterday from Jinhae (in South Gyeongang Province), they were 5...

It’s something of an open secret that maritime special operations forces around the world rely on a wide array of highly specialized water craft, such as high-speed, low-profile speed boats, miniature submarines, and more. Now, one company, SubSea, is trying to combine a number of these features into single design it calls the Diver Delivery Unit (DDU), which can transform from a speedboat to a mini sub and back again. The DDU concept is centered on a symmetrical twin-hull design, both of which could carry personnel or other equipment. The United Kingdom-based firm says the final arrangement will be both...

Poland is interested in buying French weaponry, especially missile-equipped submarines, officials said after talks between the two countries’ defence ministers. “We want to conclude this contract as soon as possible, preferably still this year," Poland’s Defence Minister Antoni Macierewicz said, referring to a possible submarine deal. He was speaking after talks with France’s Armed Forces Minister Florence Parly in Paris on Wednesday,. “The strength of the French offer” is that the submarines would come together with cruise missiles as part of a single deal, Macierewicz told Poland’s PAP news agency. But “there are still details that need to be worked...

Copenhagen (AFP) - A Danish submarine inventor being held over the grisly death of Swedish journalist Kim Wall is to appear in a Copenhagen court on Tuesday, where the suspicions against him could be ramped up to murder. Peter Madsen is expected to appear in person at the court hearing due to begin at 2:00 pm (1200 GMT), the Danish public prosecutor's office told AFP. The 46-year-old inventor has been been in custody since August 12 suspected of "negligent manslaughter" in a gruesome case that has puzzled investigators and shocked the public. Danish prosecutors now plan to ask the Copenhagen...

With the Republic of Korea Navy currently operating the Type 209 and 214 submarines, the Moon Jae-in government is moving to build nuclear-powered submarines to better deter threats from North Korea's submarine-launched ballistic missiles. / Graphic by Cho Sang-won South Korea is moving in earnest to build the nation's own nuclear-powered submarines as part of efforts to enhance its domestic defensive capabilities amid evolving threats from North Korea's nuclear and missile programs. The move is in line with President Moon Jae-in's vow to better deal with North Korean submarine-launched ballistic missile (SLBM) threats. During his presidential campaign, Moon said, "We...

During its Submarine Seminar 2017 held this morning, Saab Kockums announced that the A26 next generation submarine is now a family with three model range: Pelagic, Oceanic and Oceanic (Extended Range). Saab A26 Submarine variants 1The three variants of the A26 family of submarines. Saab image. A26 Pelagic The new Pelagic variant is a smaller version of the A26 designed for the Swedish Navy. A26 Pelagic measures less than 50 meters in length with a surfaced displacement of about 1,000 tons. Its range is 4,000 nautical miles at 10 knots and its endurance at patrol speed is over 20 days...

ngineers working with the Royal Navy have let their imaginations run wild designing what submarines of the future could look like and have come up with stunning concepts which mimic nature. Vessels shaped like manta rays, eel-like drones and swarms of fish-shaped torpedoes are just some of the ideas proposed for revolutionising underwater warfare. Eel-like drones could be deployed from the submarines “With more than 70pc of the planet's surface covered by water, the oceans remain one of the world's great mysteries and untapped resources,” said Commander Peter Pipkin, the Royal Navy's fleet robotics officer. "It's predicted that in 50...

Researchers say they’ve solved one of the most enduring mysteries of the American Civil War: what caused the puzzling demise of the H.L. Hunley, the first combat submarine in history to sink an enemy warship. The Confederate craft famously disappeared with all its crew on 17 February 1864, just after destroying the USS Housatonic in Charleston Harbour. The Hunley’s wreck was not found until 1995. When it was raised from the seabed in 2000, the skeletons of its eight-man crew were still at their stations, with no evidence of escape attempts.

The first combat submarine to sink an enemy ship also instantly killed its own eight-man crew with the powerful explosive torpedo it carried, new research has found. The HL Hunley fought for the confederacy in the US civil war and was sunk near North Charleston, South Carolina, in 1864. Speculation about the crew's deaths has included suffocation and drowning, but a new study claims that a shockwave created by their own weapon was to blame.

When the UC3 Nautilus sailed from the Port of Copenhagen on the evening of Aug. 10, the homemade submarine bore just two people: its famed Danish inventor and the Swedish journalist reporting on his invention. Less than a day later, only one of them was still alive. Peter Madsen's submarine sank midday Aug. 11; he was rescued by a private boat, but journalist Kim Wall was nowhere to be found. It was Wall's boyfriend who reported her missing, and authorities wasted no time in arresting the 46-year-old Madsen after he came ashore, charging him that same day with manslaughter and...

Project 677 Lada-class diesel-electric attack submarines will lack air-independent propulsion systems (AIP) for the foreseeable future, the head of Russian-state owned Admiralty Shipyards, Alexander Buzakov, revealed in a recent interview with Russian media this month. Buzakov confirmed that the third and fourth boat of the class will operate without AIP. AIP vastly improves the underwater endurance of a submarine by allowing it to operate its propulsion system without access to atmospheric oxygen. Given that there is less need for AIP subs to surface or use a snorkel to charge their batteries, the stealth capability of any boat fitted with this...

The Indonesian Navy (Tentara Nasional Indonesia – Angkatan Laut) has commissioned its first attack submarine in over three decades this week. The first out of three ordered Type 209/1400 Chang Bogo-class (a license-built variant of the German Type 209 sub) diesel-electric attack submarine was handed over by South Korean defense contractor Daewoo Shipbuilding and Marine Engineering (DSME) on August 2. The new boat was subsequently inducted into the Indonesian Navy in a commission ceremony at the Okpo shipyard shipyard in Geoje Island, in the southeastern part of South Korea attended by senior Indonesian officials including Indonesian Minister of Defense Ryamizard Ryacudu on...

According to Yonhap News Agency, South Korean Defense Minister Song Young-moo said nuclear-powered submarines could be considered to counter the threat from North Korean submarines. South Korea Considering Nuclear-Powered Submarine for ROK Navy KSS-III Batch I is a 3000 tons SSK submarine project fitted with 6x VLS (vertical launch systems) Asked about the need to build nuclear-powered submarines in the face of the growing military threat from the North, Song said that the ministry is "ready to review" it. "To catch an enemy submarine, we should also have one," Song said in response to a question on what countermeasure the...

After nearly a decade, India says it will finally move ahead with plans to team up with a foreign contractor to build advanced diesel electric submarines. The announcement comes amid reports that despite ambitious plans to upgrade their equipment, each of the country’s eight front line Sindhughosh-class submarines have only one working periscope instead of two. On July 24, 2017, the Indian government reportedly declared it would begin considering offers from six different countries to pair up with an Indian shipyard to build a total of six advanced diesel-electric “stealth” submarines, according to The Times of India, which described the...

North Korea’s Next Missile Test Could be Launched From a Submarine By Conor Gaffey On 7/20/17 at 3:25 AM North Korea may be preparing for another missile launch aimed at the United States. Kim Jong Un’s regime conducted its first successful intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) test on July 4—Independence Day in the U.S.—with some experts speculating that the missile could reach the U.S. states of Alaska and Hawaii, or even the Pacific Northwest. And now the totalitarian regime appears to be preparing for submarine-based missile launches in the future. Two U.S. defense officials told CNN on Thursday that a North...

Mitsubishi Heavy Industries, Kawasaki Heavy Industries, Thyssenkrupp among bidders MUMBAI, JULY 19: Six advanced submarines, to be built under Project 75(I) to scale up the Navy’s warfare capabilities, are set to get off the starters’ block, with the Navy issuing a Request for Information (RFI) to six foreign original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) for the €8.3-billion submarine project. “The Indian Navy has issued an RFI asking competent companies that have independently designed and constructed a modern submarine, which is either currently in service or is undergoing sea trials,” confirmed officials who got the RFI, adding that “the L1 for P-75(I) will...