"You've lost another submarine?"
Posted on 03/17/2014 8:06:22 AM PDT by C19fan
In 1969, the Soviet navy shocked the U.S. and NATO militaries with a new and incredibly capable submarine—one that could swim faster and dive deeper than anything else under the sea.
But the seven high-tech Alfa-class submarines—able to reach 45 knots and 2,400 feet—were actually inferior where it really mattered. Their speed and depth-resistance came at the cost of noisy internal machinery that made them easy to detect … and destroy.
(Excerpt) Read more at medium.com ...
Never forget that Toshiba Corporation cooperated with the Soviets to get around US export licences so the Soviets could buy the high-tech tooling they needed to produce quieter screws for the Akula class boats.
They knew what they were doing and that it was illegal, but the money was too good, so they did it anyway.
Toshiba is on my Lifetime Boycott List, and they should be on yours, too.
I was fighting the Cold War when Toshiba did this and since then I have never even glanced at any of their products when I decide to make a purchase.
So the book and the movie are loosely based on historical events?
It is, and for this very reason.
Me too. I remember this, and have never even looked at Toshiba laptops.
No. The story is made up. The classes of submarines and a lot of the ships actually named were not.
Typical Russian brute force technology.
Russia is not the one I’m worried about. China is.
“The Soviets retired six Alfas by 1990 and the seventh in 1996. The successor Victor III and Akula boats were, like their NATO rivals, balanced—and thus far more fearsome in combat”
I’ve read a couple articles that claimed late model Akula’s were on par with early model 688’s. I don’t know how true that is, but it does seem that the design was one of the best the Soviet navy had.
I often wonder about the noise issues the Soviets might have had with their “boomers.” From what I understand about ballistic missile subs (which I admit is frightfully little), they spend most of their time figuring out the best way to remain unseen, unheard, and avoiding contact.
There was an episode of a Soviet surface ship unsuccessfully trying to defect:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Soviet_frigate_Storozhevoy
Now we just track them by the trail of radiation leakage they leave behind. :-)
"You've lost another submarine?"
Why do you think China is any better than the Soviets were?
Yep. The computers and milling machines were shipped in 1983 and 1984; improvements to Soviet subs were noted by 1987. Submarined by Japan and Norway.
Most missile subs do just that. In the early days, the range of their missiles was much less; the missile boats had to come further out into the Atlantic and Pacific oceans.
Now, the range of the missiles is improved, so rather than venture out into open ocean, the subs just hide under the Arctic ice, where sonar conditions are lousy for everyone.
I remember it well and I, like you, have never purchased a Toshiba product since.
Subs “swim”?
“Why do you think China is any better than the Soviets were?”
Even our military uses Chinese made critical parts, that’s why.
“the golden fish”
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