Admiral Warns: Russian Subs Waging Cold War-Style ‘Battle of the Atlantic’

Russia has stepped up its submarine operations and is regularly probing U.S. anti-submarine networks in a new “Battle of the Atlantic,” the commander of U.S. 6^th Fleet said.

In an article for the U.S. Naval Institute’s June issue of Proceedings, Vice Adm. James Foggo III outlined a new era in U.S. and Russian submarine warfare he dubs “The Fourth Battle of the Atlantic.”

In his piece, Foggo compares the current uptick in Russian submarine posture to the great submarine battles between the Allies and the Germans in World War I and World War II and the Soviets and the U.S. during the Cold War.

Russia Bolsters Its Submarine Fleet, and Tensions With U.S. Rise

 

NAPLES, Italy — Russian attack submarines, the most in two decades, are prowling the coastlines of Scandinavia and Scotland, the Mediterranean Sea and the North Atlantic in what Western military officials say is a significantly increased presence aimed at contesting American and NATO undersea dominance.

Adm. Mark Ferguson, the United States Navy’s top commander in Europe, said last fall that the intensity of Russian submarine patrols had risen by almost 50 percent over the past year, citing public remarks by the Russian Navy chief, Adm. Viktor Chirkov. Analysts say that tempo has not changed since then.

Russia Begins Underwater Robot Construction for Fifth-Generation Submarines

Two Russian design bureaus began developing unmanned underwater vehicles for deployment by fifth-generation submarines, an official representative of the United Shipbuilding Corporation told RIA Novosti on Friday.

“The Rubin and Malakhit [design bureaus] are involved in the development. The decision to equip these devices and assigning them tasks will be taken during the layout shaping of the fifth-generation submarines,” the official said.

Russian Presence Near Undersea Cables Concerns U.S.

Note that this is only a reaction to what has already been happening months ago, as mentioned last September. U.S. officials then voiced concern over a high-tech Russian deep-sea spy vessel gathering intelligence from America’s nuclear submarine bases, which also happened to be equipped with cable cutting equipment. It was built to identify undersea communications trunk lines and nodes.

 

WASHINGTON — Russian submarines and spy ships are aggressively operating near the vital undersea cables that carry almost all global Internet communications, raising concerns among some American military and intelligence officials that the Russians might be planning to attack those lines in times of conflict.

The issue goes beyond old Cold War worries that the Russians would tap into the cables — a task American intelligence agencies also mastered decades ago. The alarm today is deeper: In times of tension or conflict, the ultimate Russian hack on the United States could involve severing the fiber-optic cables at some of their hardest-to-access locations to halt the instant communications on which the West’s governments, economies and citizens have grown dependent.

Russia to Build 5th-Gen. Nuclear Subs by 2020 in Push to Modernize Military

 

According to the general director of Sevmash, a Russian shipbuilding company, the construction of fifth-generation nuclear-powered submarines could begin by 2020.

MOSCOW (Sputnik)– The construction of fifth-generation nuclear-powered submarines could begin at the Sevmash shipyard in northern Russia by 2020, the company’s general director Mikhail Budnichenko said.

“The modernization of the shipyard’s capacity is actively underway to ensure the construction of advanced submarines. This process will provide a platform for the future construction of new-generation boats,” Budnichenko said in an interview with RIA Novosti.

Russian Military to Acquire 200 New Aircraft, 50 New Naval Vessels by Year’s End

 

The Russian Air Force will receive more than 200 new warplanes and helicopters by the end of 2014, Russian Air Force commander in chief Viktor Bondarev said on August 12. The announcement came just weeks after Moscow had announced that its naval force would get more than 50 new vessels by the end of the year.