Russia Plans To Build 1st-Ever Civilian Nuclear-Powered Submarine For Arctic Prospecting

Staff, RT
29 March 2017

Russia has a project for a nuclear-propelled submarine, which would carry seismological equipment instead of missiles, an advanced research official said. The vessel would be used to explore the Arctic’s mineral riches. 
The project of the first-ever nuclear sub for civilian use was revealed by Viktor Litvinenko, head of a project group at the Advanced Research Fund, a state agency with close ties to the military.
“It would be a civilian nuclear submarine, but instead of missile launchers it would have tubes with a robotic submersible, which would conduct seismic prospecting, search for minerals,” he told RIA Novosti on Wednesday.
The preliminary specifications of the vessel as voiced by Litvinenko are 135.5 meters long, 14.4 meters wide, 12.6 knots submerged speed and a test depth of up to 400 meters, roughly equivalent to Borey-class submarines. The submarine would have a crew of 40 and be capable of diving on missions lasting up to 90 days, he added.
The project is currently in its early design stage, the official said.
Advanced navies use nuclear submarines for long missions that require them to spend months submerged. It allows them to hide from enemy reconnaissance and ensure that a retaliation nuclear strike would be delivered in case of a global nuclear war, thus deterring such a development.
No civilian submarines use nuclear power plants, but Russia famously has a fleet of nuclear-propelled icebreakers, which it uses in the Arctic region. While requiring significant investment and technological expertise, such ships do not require regular refuel like traditional vessels, allowing long autonomous missions in the region, famous for its unpredictable weather.

US Navy ROV Gets a New Assignment

Eric Haun, Marine Technology
29 March 2017

A U.S. Navy remotely operated vehicle, designed and built by Phoenix, has been transferred to Undersea Rescue Command.
 Tasked by the Naval Sea Systems Command (NAVSEA) Office of the Director of Ocean Engineering, Supervisor of Salvage and Diving (SUPSALV) to design and build a remotely operated underwater vehicle (ROV) to conduct salvage operations to water depths of 2,000 feet of seawater (fsw), Phoenix International Holdings, Inc. took the vehicle, originally named Hydros, from a “blank piece of paper” to a completed ROV ready for at-sea testing within the span of 10 months.
 The ROV employs a robust aluminum inner frame encased in a black polymer outer frame. To support subsea recovery tasks, it is fitted with a lifting fixture capable of hoisting up to 1,000 pounds, two five-function manipulators made of titanium and a user friendly control system that employs programmable logic controller (PLC) technology with graphic user interface software capabilities.
 Soon after the ROV’s completion, representatives of the U.S. Navy’s Undersea Rescue Command (URC) and NAVSEA Submarine Escape & Rescue Program Office (PMS 391) were briefed on Hydros as a potential replacement for the Navy’s one-atmosphere diving system (ADS2000) for assessment of a disabled submarine, rescue hatch clearance and attachment of the submarine rescue chamber’s downhaul cable. Subsequently, Phoenix personnel deployed with Hydros to San Diego to conduct at-sea demonstrations and acceptance trials. The vehicle successfully performed submarine rescue training tasks; including, inspecting a seafloor based submarine simulator, clearing debris and attaching specialized rigging to the simulator. The success of this demonstration led the URC to request transfer of Hydros from SUPSALV to the U.S. Navy’s Submarine Rescue Program. 
 Following transfer approval, the URC renamed Hydros the BM2 Sibitzky ROV, in honor of Boatswain Mate Second Class (BM2) Martin C. Sibitzky. After the sinking of USS Squalus (SS 192) in 1939 off the coast of Maine in 243 fsw, Navy Diver BM2 Sibitzky connected the downhaul cable to the submarine’s escape hatch. This action allowed the Submarine Rescue Chamber to reach the escape hatch and bring trapped sailors to the surface. Due to the heroism of BM2 Sibitzky and many others, 33 sailors were rescued from the downed submarine. Tragically, 26 sailors lost their lives.
 Today the Sibitzky ROV is undergoing final testing prior to becoming a permanent part of the Navy’s submarine rescue capability.

U.S. Navy Expects to Field Winged ASW Torpedo by 2020

Richard R. Burgess, Seapower Magazine
29 March 2017

ARLINGTON, Va. — The Navy’s program to develop an anti-submarine torpedo launched from high altitude from a P-8A Poseidon maritime patrol aircraft is on track to field the weapon to fleet units by fiscal 2020, a Boeing official said.
The High-Altitude Anti-Submarine Warfare Weapon Capability (HAAWC) program is being put through separation tests with 100 percent success so far, Cindy Gruensfelder, director of Direct Attack programs for Boeing, told reporters March 28.
The HAAWC is a combination of a Mk 54 anti-submarine warfare torpedo with a folding wing and Global Positioning System guidance kit — called the Air-Launch Accessory, or ALA — attached. The weapon is launched from the weapons bay of a P-8A at altitudes up to 30,000 feet. The weapon glides to the target datum using the wings and precision guidance system and the wings detach upon water entry. The torpedo uses active or passive homing to the targets submarine. The HAAWC gives the P-8A the option of remaining at fuel-efficient altitudes and at standoff ranges to attack submerged submarines.
Currently, P-8s must descend to low altitudes of 500 feet or less to launch a parachute-retarded Mk 54 torpedo.
The ALA is not equipped with an inflight data link to enable target position updates, but that could be added in future versions of the HAAWC.
Development testing of the HAAWC will be finished this year, Gruensfelder said. Integration testing is continuing this year, with a flight of the HAAWC scheduled for later this year as well. Operational testing will be conducted before the fielding of the weapon.
Gruensfelder expects a government decision for Low-Rate Initial Production (LRIP) later this year. The first and second lots of LRIP are expected to total 140 weapons.
The HAAWC will be made available for procurement by the foreign nations that have or are procuring the P-8, including Australia, India, Norway and the United Kingdom, said Capt. Tony Rossi, the Navy’s maritime patrol reconnaissance aircraft program manager, also speaking to reporters at the same event.

Massive Corruption Stalls Production of Russian Nuclear Attack Submarines

Arthur Dominic Villasanta, China Topix
26 March 2017

Rampant corruption in its submarine building industry has forced Russia to limit production of its new Yasen-class nuclear-powered multipurpose attack submarine (SSN) and complement it with a cheaper and smaller SSN called the Husky-class.
This untrammeled corruption involving contractors building the Yasen-class has caused the cost of each of the two submarines built to date to skyrocket. Only one Yasen-class SSN, the K-560 Severodvinsk, is in active service with the Russian Navy out of a planned fleet of 12 of these subs.
A second Yasen-class SSN, the K-561 Kazan, is building and is scheduled for commissioning into the navy by 2018.
The cost of building the Severodvinsk is estimated to range from $1.6 billion to $2 billion, making this sub the most expensive submarine in the world, and a massive drain on cash-starved Russia.
The Severodvinsk costs as much as two Borei-class nuclear-powered ballistic missile submarines (SSBN), the first of which (K-535 Yuriy Dolgorukiy) entered service with the navy in 2013.
The Kazan is even more expensive. It's expected to cost anywhere from $3.5 billion to $4 billion in 2011 dollars.
In 2011, Anatoliy Serdyukov, the Minister of Defense at the time, criticized the non-stop cost of the Yasen-class and Borei-class submarines. He described the stupendous increase in cost between the Severodvinsk and Kazan as "incomprehensible."
Officials from the United Shipbuilding Corporation (USC), which builds the Yasen-class, laid the blame for the incomprehensible rise in costs on contractors. USC officials said its work accounts for only 30 percent of the submarine's completion cost. The remaining 70 percent is linked to suppliers and contractors paying kick-backs to Russian government officials.
Russian media said that because of the massive cost of the Severodvinsk and Kazan, the Husky class SSNs will be smaller and will feature reduced armament.
Russia will start building the Husky-class in 2020 after four more Yasen-class subs are built. This will bring to six the total number of Yasen-class SSNs built out of 12 originally planned.

Tasmania Secures Role In Future Submarine Program

Amelia McMahon, Defence Connect
23 March 2017

The University of Tasmania (UTAS) has signed a memorandum of understanding with four French defense and maritime technology institutions for work on the $50 billion DCNS project.
Although the fleet will be built in Adelaide, the Australian Maritime College (AMC) in Launceston will deliver teaching and research to the manufacturers that will build the 12 Shortfin Barracuda submarines.
UTAS deputy vice-chancellor Professor Monique Skidmore signed the MoU with the four French institutions: ENSTA ParisTech, École Centrale de Nantes, CentraleSupélec and École Polytechnique.
"This MoU will result in the university working with our French partners to deliver teaching and research which will inform the delivery of the next-generation submarine fleet for the country," Professor Skidmore said. "Universities such as the University of Tasmania, South Australian universities and the French consortia will together create the new generation of highly skilled workers required to research, design, build and maintain the next generation submarine fleet."
Professor Skidmore said the memorandum recognized the world standing of the university’s AMC in both teaching and research, and underlined the considerable promise of defense and design to northern Tasmania’s future.
"Arrangements such as this provide a platform upon which we can expand our existing strengths, along with the development of completely new economic sectors for the region and the state," said Professor Skidmore.
"This agreement has come about because of our university’s capacity for interdisciplinary research and our highly-regarded pedigree in the STEM disciplines of science, technology, engineering and mathematics. It is why the university is pursuing a vision for a STEM Precinct in Hobart, which would considerably enhance these strengths, which could then be leveraged for the benefit of the entire state."
The institutions will all work with DCNS on the project and the programs are due to start in September next year.
The contract for the design and construction of the Future Submarines was awarded to the French government-owned DCNS in April 2016 and signed in September 2016.
The French company was selected by the Australian government for the contract over German TKMS and Japanese Mitsubishi Heavy Industries and Kawasaki Shipbuilding Corporation offerings.
DCNS has stated that the Shortfin Barracuda pushes submarine stealth capabilities into a new realm, using pump-jet propulsion instead of the traditional propeller. To add to its stealth capabilities, hydroplanes on the submarine will retract to reduce drag and noise.
The fleet will replace the six Australian-built Collins Class submarines that have been in service since 1996.
Tasmanian Minister for State Growth Matthew Groom gave a statement explaining the government wanted to ensure Tasmania was not missing out on its share of defense spending.
"In order to increase our share of defense spending, we need to ensure that we have the skills and the linkages with the defense sector to contribute to significant national projects such as this," he said.
"It will put the university's [AMC] at the forefront of the teaching and research work that will inform the delivery of Australia's submarine fleet."

U.S. Navy, Congress Eye Buying Carriers in Blocks of Two, Folding in Submarine Material Purchase

Rick Burgess, Seapower Magazine
22 March 2017 

WASHINGTON — The Navy and Congress are actively looking at building aircraft carriers in sets of two to reduce acquisition costs and grow the fleet to 12 carriers, as well as considering including purchases of submarine materials with them to achieve cost reductions over three programs. 
“We’re going to try to buy carriers in blocks of two,” Vice Adm. David C. Johnson, principal military deputy to the assistant secretary of the Navy for Research, Development and Acquisition, said March 22 at a Defense Programs Conference sponsored by McAleese and Associates. 
In the Navy’s 2016 Force Structure Assessment, the number of carriers needed by the Navy was set at 12, two more than the current 10, a number which that climb to 11 this year with the commissioning of Gerald R. Ford, the lead ship of a new class planned to begin sea trials this spring. 
Affording the fleet growth to 355 ships, including the carriers, is a challenge acknowledged by Congress.
“We have to get the glide path to 355 [ships] right,” Rep. Robert J. Wittman, R-Va., chairman of the House Armed Services seapower and projection forces subcommittee, said at the conference. “We cannot afford anything less. If we don’t, we create additional challenges going forward.”
Wittman said the subcommittee “will come back at this to purchase two [carriers] at a time.”
Johnson also said that it would be advantageous to include in the buys the procurement of materials for the Columbia-class ballistic-missile submarine and the Virginia-class attack submarine to achieve economies of scale over all three nuclear-powered ship programs.
The Navy has been looking at procuring the next ships of the Gerald R. Ford class in a two-stage strategy, buying two hulls in advance to save material procurement costs and then installing combat systems on the ships when the latest systems are available closer to the commissioning date. 
Wittman said Congress needs to look at “incrementally funding ships,” while acknowledging, “I know the appropriators don’t like that.”

Taiwan Has to Build its Own Submarines Because Nobody Is Willing to Anger China

Kyle Mizokami, Popular Mechanics
21 March 2017

The president of Taiwan has announced the conclusion of the nation's disappointing, decades-long search for someone—anyone—to sell the country attack submarines for its defense: Nobody will, and so the island country will build its submarines. USNI News, citing the Japanese Kyodo News Agency, reports that Taiwanese President Tsai Ing-wen announced the start of the submarine program today at a Republic of China (Taiwan) Navy base.
Lying just 120 miles from mainland China, Taiwan, or the Republic of China, has been under threat of invasion since splitting from Communist China in 1949. As China's military strength has grown in recent years, the threat of invasion has increased and Taiwan has sought to build a fleet of diesel electric submarines. Submarines are an ideal weapon of defense for Taiwan, capable of sinking invasion fleets and breaking any blockade China might impose on what it considers a "breakaway province".
In theory, Taiwan's plan shouldn't be a problem. There is a vibrant non-nuclear submarine industry worldwide, with Russia, Japan, France, and Germany all leaders in diesel electric attack submarine design. Unfortunately for Taiwan, as China's economic power has increased, Beijing has used that power to discourage other countries from selling submarines to Taiwan. Today, no one will sell the country submarines for fear of retaliatory economic action by China.
What about American shipyards? Some, such as the Connecticut-based General Dynamics Electric Boat, produce only nuclear-powered submarines. That is way too much submarine for Taiwan, which doesn't need large ships with the ability to circumnavigate the globe. The long range of nuclear subs would make them offensive weapons, and Washington is committed to selling Taiwan only defensive arms.
In 2001, the Bush Administration promised to build diesel-powered submarines for Taiwan, but that never happened, for a number of reasons. The move would have deteriorated U.S.-Chinese relations. Plus, the U.S. Navy does not want domestic shipyards to produce diesel-powered subs. The Navy prefers an all-nuclear force and is afraid that if local shipyards made the less desirable (but cheaper) alternative, Congress may actually force the American Navy to buy them.
In the meantime, Taiwan's navy has just four submarines. The two newest subs Hai Lung ("Sea Dragon") and Hai Hu ("Sea Tiger") were ordered from the Netherlands in 1980 and delivered by 1988. Even older are the Hai Shih (ex-USS Cutlass) and Hai Pao (ex-USS Tusk), which were built for the U.S. Navy during World War II. The submarines were transferred to Taiwan in the early 70s with their torpedo tubes welded shut. Each is more than 70 years old, making them the oldest submarines in service anywhere. The two geriatric attack boats are too old for frontline service and are instead used to train anti-submarine warfare forces.
This new effort to make homebuilt subs will be a joint project between the CSBC shipbuilding corporation, the Taiwanese government and navy, and the National Chung-Shan Institute of Science and Technology. Taiwan reportedly wants a submarine in the 1,200 to 3,000-ton class, which is a reasonable size considering the main mission of the sub fleet is to defend a relatively small island. The only submarine the U.S. currently builds, by comparison, is the 7,800-ton nuclear powered Virginia-class attack sub.
Taiwan will probably get guided torpedoes such as the Mark 48 ADCAP anti-ship/anti-submarine torpedo, from the United States. According to USNI News, Taiwan expects the process to take ten years to mature consisting of "four years (for design), four for construction and two additional years of testing."
Taiwan will basically start from square one in designing this submarine. The country is so bereft of submarine design experience that in 2015 it was reportedly ready to tear down one of the World War II-era subs to figure out how to build modern submarines. Taiwan will lean heavily on outside help. It was reported in 2015 that "more than twenty US and European companies" have expressed interest in working with Taiwanese companies on the submarine project.
If Taiwan's effort to build submarines is successful, then Beijing's pressure to halt sales from other countries could backfire. Taiwan could build submarines with features other countries might be reluctant to sell, such as vertical launch silos for long-range missiles that could hit the mainland, giving the island country a retaliatory strike capability that Beijing would prefer Taiwan didn't have.