A difficult operation of the low-noise U35 in the area of responsibility of the Russian Navy. Long Range Mission
As you know, for the majority of domestic and foreign military experts and observers, information about the beginning of the transition of the anaerobic diesel-electric submarine U35 (S185) of project 212A of the German Navy from the Baltic Sea to the Central and Eastern Mediterranean did not become the subject of close attention, not to mention about the absence of any further attempts to carry out a detailed expert analysis of the probable goals of deploying this submarine in such a critically important (from an operational-strategic point of view) region of the South European and Middle East conventional theaters of operations.
The participation of the ultra-low-noise U35 in the IRINI naval operation to prevent the supply of weapons to the parties to the Libyan conflict is an excellent cover for the true missions of this submarine in the Mediterranean region.
And this circumstance should not be surprised at all, because the superficial views of an ordinary observer audience of dozens news publications, as well as military experts, who plunged headlong into forecasting the probable countervailing military-political measures of the Pentagon after the epoch-making fiasco of the NATO Armed Forces in the military campaign in Afghanistan, was overnight chained to the most digestible and not requiring careful assessment of the official version, voiced by a knowledgeable source in the press service of the Federal Republic of Germany's defense department.
So, according to the latter, the key and only goal of redeploying the anaerobic diesel-electric submarine U35 to the Mediterranean Sea is nothing more than the implementation of hydroacoustic reconnaissance of underwater and surface spaces on the near and distant approaches to the coast of Libya for the appearance of surface ships, diving and semi-submerged boats. as well as small submarines that provide military-technical support to the paramilitary units of the Government of National Accord (GNA), as well as units of the Libyan National Army of Khalifa Haftar.
The implementation of this range of tasks by the crew of the German U35 is justified by the need to expand and intensify the naval operation of the United Naval Forces of the European Union (EUNAVFOR) IRINI, provided for by the draft UN Security Council resolution on the introduction of an embargo on the supply of any types of weapons to the parties to the Libyan conflict.
Meanwhile, almost any military expert who has even a superficial understanding of the tactical and technical parameters of hydroacoustic, radar and optical-electronic reconnaissance means of the Navy and Air Force of Germany, France, Italy and Spain (surface and airborne) should be completely the following fact is obvious.
For effective monitoring of the underwater and surface spaces in the Central Mediterranean, it would be enough to use a pair of P-3C "Orion" anti-submarine aircraft (or a single MQ-9B "Sky / Sea Guardian" with a period of loitering over the reconnaissance area of about 30-40 hours or a strategic radar and optical-electronic reconnaissance RQ-4E "Euro Hawk"), as well as one frigate of the class "Sachsen" (Type F124) or "Horizon".
Having carried out a thorough acquaintance with the corresponding domestic and foreign military-technical Internet publications of the naval profile, it is possible to evaluate in detail the tactical and technical advantages of the operating modes of the centimeter airborne sighting and search radars AN / APY-137 (V) 5 anti-submarine aircraft P-3C "Orion ", As well as a turret multi-band X-band radar" SeaVue ", which is a specialized modification of the" Orion "AN / APY-137 (V) 5 and is designed for software and hardware adaptation for use in avionics and control systems of the MQ-9B strike reconnaissance UAV" Sky / Sea Guardian ".
With the ability to operate in the inverse synthesized aperture (ISAR) mode and direction finding of moving surface objects (GMTI), the above radars are capable of detecting, classifying and identifying (using the method of generating photo-quality 3D radar images) any surface, semi-submerged and underwater weapons delivery vehicles to the Libyan theater of operations. within a radius of 150-200 km; not to mention the more high-energy and jam-resistant AN / ZPY-2 AFAR radars installed on the RQ-4E “Euro Hawk” reconnaissance UAVs (RQ-4B modification for the air forces of European NATO member / partner countries).
This information can be supplemented overnight with the coordinates of detected surface / submarine transports obtained by highly sensitive in-hull DSQS-24B STN Atlas of one of the German Saxony-class frigates, or TMS 4110CL of one of the Horizon-class frigates of the Italian / French Navy.
Therefore, the involvement of the German low-noise diesel-electric submarine U35 in this operation is entirely counterproductive and economically inexpedient decision of the German Defense Ministry.
What is one of the primary tasks of the crew of the U35 of the German Navy in the Mediterranean Sea?
Meanwhile, taking into account the unique tactical and technical parameters of project 212A submarines of the German Navy, as well as announced a week earlier by a competent source in the Russian shipbuilding industry, bringing the grouping of low-noise diesel-electric submarines pr. 636.3 "Varshavyanka" Caliber-PL ") in the eastern part of the Mediterranean Sea up to 3 units, the true goals of deploying the German U14 in the Mediterranean region are beginning to be seen much more clearly.
Having a unique hybrid power plant based on a diesel generator unit with silver-zinc storage batteries, as well as an anaerobic air-independent power VNEU based on proton-exchange hydrogen-oxygen electrochemical generators, the diesel-electric submarine type 212A boasts the ability to operate underwater for about 20 days (without opening its own location for multispectral optoelectronic modules integrated into the element base of the Novella-P-38 sighting and search systems of Il-38N anti-submarine aircraft).
At the same time, the hull made of low-magnetic steel with an underwater displacement of no more than 1 tons (900 times less than that of Project 2) contributes to the implementation of two key operational and tactical advantages of the German U636.3.
First, a significant decrease in the probability of its detection by means of magnetic anomaly detectors installed on the Il-38N and Tu-142M3 anti-submarine aircraft.
Secondly, a noticeable decrease in the acoustic signature of the German U35 (up to 35-45 dB), which ensures a reduction in the distance of its direction finding by means of passive non-directional and directional radio acoustic buoys RSB-41 and RSB-48 from the Il-38N "equipment" to 7-20 km ( the first near zone of acoustic illumination).
The detection range of U35 by the MGK-400EM Rubicon-M submarines of pr. 636.3 Varshavyanka will also noticeably decrease, which will be especially pronounced if the crew of a German submarine implements the “sneaking” mode at a speed of 3-5 knots.
The crew of the German submarine, on the contrary, will have the ability to both a detailed analysis of "acoustic portraits" and any maneuvers of our "Varshavyanka" in the Mediterranean Sea in the interests of the NATO command and control.
After all, the standard diesel-electric propulsion systems, forcing the crews of the Varshavyanka every 18–20 hours to rise to the surface to recharge the batteries in the RDP mode, will be instantly direction finding by the AN5039A1 passive sonar reconnaissance complex, as well as by a low-frequency GAS based on a flexible extended towed antenna TAS-3, which is an analogue of our "Vignette-EM".
Against this background, the design program of the domestic VNEU for diesel-electric submarines of the "Lada" class (based on the reforming of diesel fuel), capable of providing the latter with the proper level of secrecy, unfortunately, is in a protracted slip mode.
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