Quote:
Originally Posted by karl262
I just think that if our navy is ever in a shooting situation against some other navy, we need something that punches above its weight. We have a very limited defense budged and more coastline than any other country on the planet. For $60 billion dollars we could buy over 100 of the Gotlands successor boats. They're far cheaper than nuclear.
These things are so deadly that the Americans leased one from Sweden to study it after it snuck up on a carrier battle group and killed the carrier in training exercises before slipping away. AIP subs are the hardest to detect.
They aren't the ideal boat for going under ice but can still do it. They can go 18 days and travel 4000 kms submerged, quiter than any other sub. We would be able to enforce our northern sovereignty, something frigates can't do.
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Submarines can't coordinate very well, they don't form task force groups, they have one pretty specific role whereas a surface fleet is fully multi-role.
Boarding from a submarine would be pretty unsafe as well.
I like the AIP concept for a submarine, but I disagree with you on a navy based on submarines, you throw away your flexibility, your search and rescue, your ability to react to crisis, your ability to interdict and search vessels.
I also get that the Gotland had a good day against the Ronald Reagan battle group. But that's no guarantee that it reflects the effectiveness of the class. One of Canada's Oberon Class boats snuck in a US carrier group in the late 80's and took snap shots too.
It was a very good day, and a perfect combination of conditions and the Captain of the boat, and the opposition. I wouldn't buy a 100 boats based on one very good day.
I also wouldn't sole platform the navy. If you want to do it right, you have a surface navy with a strong command and control element and strong data links to things like subs and fighters (F-35) and patrol craft. You can use the sub as a force multiplier and recon platform if it has those strong data links.
But at the end of the day, a submarine isn't robust enough, multipurpose capable enough or agile and fast enough to be a effective back bone to your navy unless your plan is blockade or punching holes in ships.