Posted on 05/04/2015 3:02:57 PM PDT by Tailgunner Joe
NATO launched one of its biggest-ever anti-submarine exercises in the North Sea on Monday, inviting non-member Sweden for the first time, amid increasing tensions between Russia and its northern neighbors.
More than a dozen vessels from 11 countries are participating in the "Dynamic Mongoose" exercise. NATO will simulate detecting and attacking submarines in one of the most hostile seas, with rugged but shallow underwater canyons, rapid currents and unusually high sound pollution from freshwater pouring in from Norway's fjords.
Tensions have run high since Russia annexed part of Ukraine last year, with the three small Baltic states, who also rely on the Nordics for defense, fearing they may be next as they are home to big Russian minorities.
Finland detected an unidentified submarine along its coast last week, firing depth charges at the vessel, while NATO-member Latvia, a former Soviet state, last month said it detected a Russian submarine near its waters.
Russian aircraft have also repeatedly approached and even violated Nordic and Baltic airspace in recent months, challenging air defenses and triggering allied responses.
"Russia has a right to be at sea, just as we do," Rear Admiral Brad Williamson, the commander of the exercise said. "But the incidents we have seen are not in line with international regulations... and that's been the cause of concern."
(Excerpt) Read more at uk.reuters.com ...
Didn’t one shot start the Revolutionary war? jut sayin. Hope everybody out there doesn’t have itchy trigger fingers
The Russians must be peeved with the ASW assets of eleven nations choking off Russian subs from exiting the Baltic into the Atlantic!
On October 31st 2014, retired naval officer Sven Olof Kviman snapped a picture of what looked like a 20-30 metre long, black submarine in waters just outside Lidingö in Stockholm. The incident has remained unconfirmed, but has been classed by the military as a “potential” submarine.
http://www.thelocal.se/20150413/suspected-sub-in-swedish-waters-was-working-boat
Hope they better intel this time.
They should use nuclear depth charges.
OK, let’s see what you got, P-8.
Interesting
My sense is that ASW as a key Navy mission has been neglected since the end of the Cold War. For one example why, there’s the retirement of the S-3 Viking carrier-based ASW aircraft, with nothing to replace it.
Lockheed Wants To Bring The S-3 Viking Back From The Dead
http://foxtrotalpha.jalopnik.com/the-navy-should-bring-the-40-year-old-s-3-viking-back-f-1561134099
I hope I’m wrong.
1st Bush retired them (nuke depth charges) in 1991, along with all the other tactical naval weapons we had, like Asroc, Subroc and N-Terrier,
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.