Das Boot

Red October

Navy Hymn for Submariners

Submarines of the World

Black Sea Fleet to Receive 11 New Vessels by End of Year – Russian Navy

The Russian Black Sea Fleet is to receive 11 new ships and service vessels, including two anti-sabotage boats, six service vessels, two diesel-electric submarines and two frigates, Navy Commander Adm. Viktor Chirkov said Thursday.

 

“By the end of the year the Black Sea Fleet will receive two Grachonok-class anti-sabotage boats and six service vessels of different classes. Two Project 636.3 diesel-electric submarines, the ‘Novorossiysk’ and the ‘Rostov-on-Don,’ will join the Black Sea Fleet this year,” Chirkov said.

 

Chirkov also said that by the end of 2014 the Black Sea Fleet is to receive a new Project 1135.6 frigate, the “Admiral Grigorovich,” and in September-October welcome a second ship of the same project, the “Admiral Essen.” Overall, the project entails six ships, with all of them going to the Black Sea Fleet.

 

Earlier, the commander-in-chief announced that in 2017 Russia will start building a new generation of non-nuclear submarines. The submarines are expected to be equipped with an anaerobic system that increases speed and provides submarines with the ability to remain submerged while recharging their batteries instead of having to surface to do so.

 

The Project 636.3 Varshavyanka-class submarines should be constructed by 2016. The third of the six submarines has been scheduled to launch Thursday in St. Petersburg. The submarines are primarily intended for anti-ship and anti-submarine missions in relatively shallow waters.

Vietnam - Minister chides public, calls “barefoot scientist’” achievements modest

Not all of these inventors are farmers; some are businesspeople. For example, a story about the first made-in-Vietnam combatant submarine appeared in local newspapers four months ago.

 

Phan Boi Tran, a composite material engineer, is the inventor of the Yet Kieu 1 mini submarine. It runs on an electric engine which can bring it to a maximum speed of 15 miles per hour. Ninety percent of the submarine’s parts and accessories can be manufactured domestically. This was big news for Vietnamese, who believe that Vietnam “can only assemble machines, but cannot manufacture machines”.

 

Several days later, local newspapers reported that Nguyen Quoc Hoa, the owner of a print company in Thai Binh province, stated he had successfully tested his submarine named Truong Sa (Spratly Islands).

 

Science reporters, in a great excitement about “Vietnamese intelligence”, have discovered that a series of other scientific research works had been conducted by “barefoot scientists”, or farmers who work every day in rice fields and have no university education.

 

Bui Hien, a farmer, created a mini helicopter in accordance with international standards to prove that Vietnamese people can do anything.

 

While barefoot scientists have been praised for their achievements, the scientific community, which comprises thousands of PhDs, have been heavily criticized and described as “spongers”, because they cannot invent machines useful for production and daily life.

 

The well-educated scientists work at academies and big research institutes, where there is modern equipment, but they cannot create products which farmers, untrained and working in the rice fields, can.

 

However, Minister Quan “poured a ladle of cold water onto the public’s excitement” after he said that farmers’ achievements are “modest” and are not “inventions”.

 

Defending scientists, Quan said that if scientists and research institutes are assigned to create submarines and helicopters, they would create products much better than those made by the farmers.

 

In a related matter, the government does not intend to allocate resources to aircraft manufacturing.

In fact, Quan said, even countries that are more developed than Vietnam dare not think of manufacturing aircraft and submarines as the technical equipment requires very high technologies.

This explains why Boeing and Airbus aircraft are used all over the world, while only a few countries make submarines.

 

“The public tends to go to extremes when commenting that scientists are less capable than barefoot farmers,” he said.

 

The National Office of Intellectual Property (NOIP) grants intellectual property right certificates and extends patents to 1,000 inventions every year, both foreign and domestic, of which the number of patents granted to Vietnamese are under 100.

 

Quan stressed that most of the 100 patents are granted to scientists, institutes, schools and enterprises, while very few are granted to farmers.

 

Rudderless control could bring supersonic submarines from sci-fi to reality

Chinese scientists are studying the applications of supercavitation to propel large bodies underwater at high speed. Scaled up into a full size 'supersonic submarine', such vessel could make the distance from Shanghai China to San Francisco, CA in less than two hours

The propulsion method used to speed up the Ghost is the same enabling the Russian Skval torpedo to gain a speed four time higher than its western counterparts

 

Chinese scientists are studying the applications of supercavitation to propel large bodies underwater at high speed. A team of scientists at the Harbin institute of Technology’s Complex Flow and Heat Transfer lab headed by Prof. Li Fengchen has come up with a new approach to create an ‘air bubble’ required for rapid underwater travel.

 

 

“We are very excited by its potential” Prof. Fengchen said, explaining that the unique attributes of the team’s new concept is the ability to control the vessel within the air bubble, without a rudder. Lack of steering and control has limited the application of this concept to unmanned bodies such as torpedoes, that were fired in a straight line because they had limited ability to turn. “Our method is different from any other approach, such as vector propulsion or thrust created by an engine” Li said.

 

 

The supercavitation propulsion concept was explored in the Soviet Union in the 1960s, but implemented only with torpedoes (Shkval). In the US, applications are explored with hovercraft and counter-mine applications. (New Scientist Magazine, 7-2000) The Chinese team’s concept employs the application of a liquid spray around the underwater vessel’s body, creating a membrane on its surface, reducing the drag at low speed. As the speed reaches 40 knots (75 km/h) and higher the vessel would enter the supercavitation state. At this stage, the membrane that wraps the vessel would help with steerin by applying variable levels of friction in the appropriate axis. remain Wang said even he had been kept in the dark about recent supercavitation developments in China. “By combining liquid-membrane technology with supercavitation, we can significantly reduce the launch challenges and make cruising control easier,” he told the Submariners World.

The Russian Shkval torpedo could not easily steer underwater and would often be fired in a straight line.

 

Scaled up into a full size ‘supersonic submarine’, such vessel could make the distance from Shanghai China to San Francisco, CA in less than two hours. A submarine that could be traDespite these breakthough researches, supercavitating super-submarines are still decades away, Li said, including the introduction of powerful underwater rocket engines that could give the vessels longer range and higher underwater velocity, up to supersonic speed. The effective range of Russian supercavitation torpedoes (Shkval) that could travel at a speed of 200 knots (370km/h) was between 6-8 nm (11-15 km).

US should fear littoral capability of PLA subs: retired officer

The United States should fear a potential submarine war with China, Wang Hongguang, retired deputy commander of the Nanjing Military Region, wrote in a commentary for the state-run Global Times on Aug. 11.
 

While admitting that the nuclear-powered attack submarines and ballistic missile submarines of the United States Navy have a longer range and faster speed than their Chinese counterparts, Wang said the PLA's submarines are better suited to fighting in littoral waters. He said US submarines have several major weaknesses that Chinese subs do not have. First, they are simply too large to conduct operations within the narrow First Island Chain of the Pacific, he said.

 

 

Compared to American submarines with displacement between 8,000 and 10,000 tons, Wang said it is much easier for 2,000-ton conventional PLA submarines to hide and evade the enemy. Wang said further that Chinese submarines employ the world's best air-independent propulsion system and can stay submerged for between 15 and 20 days. This is enough for them to travel 3,000 kilometers without being detected, he said.
 

Noting that a Chinese Type 039 Song-class submarine surfaced quietly nine miles away from the USS Kitty Hawk carrier in 2007, Wang said it is possible for the PLA Navy to do this again even in the central Pacific. If older boats like the Song-class submarine could do it, Wang said more advanced sumbarines such as the Type 094 Jin-class ballistic missile submarine can do it as well.

The dangers of SSBN proliferation in Indo-Pacific Asia

It has become commonplace to lament the arms races underway in Indo-Pacific Asia.

 

China's military modernisation over the last two decades has helped provoke heightened political tensions and growing concern in capitals from Tokyo to New Delhi to Washington and Moscow.

 

North Korea's continued pursuit of nuclear weapons and missile delivery systems keeps tensions in Northeast Asia high. The Indian subcontinent is home to two nuclear powers that have fought four wars over the last 65 years. Many countries in the Asian littoral have undertaken serious rearmament programs, and across the region strategists see a proliferation of missiles of all types — anti-access systems, aerospace capabilities and naval platforms, among others

. 

Regional nuclear modernisation programs, especially the development of submarines (nuclear powered or conventional) armed with nuclear weapons, are of special concern.

 

China and India are committed to producing more nuclear-capable delivery systems and weapons with greater range, accuracy and features that make them more lethal and thus more threatening to potential adversaries. Meanwhile Pakistan is pursuing its own program to acquire more capable submarines from China. While no one is arguing, as yet, that Pakistan intends to acquire ballistic missile submarines, some analysts hint that nuclear-tipped cruise missiles are a real possibility. Given Pakistan's record on nuclear proliferation over the past decades, such fears appear real. 

 

With the possible exception of America, powers external to the Indo-Pacific (Russia, for example) are also pursuing strategic modernisation. Russia, lest anyone forget, is an Indo-Pacific nuclear power by virtue of its Pacific Fleet, complete with its latest model SSBNs (in the American lexicon: Ship, Submersible, Ballistic, Nuclear), the Borei class, armed with Bulava missiles. Even the US is investing in the research and development preliminary to building a replacement for the Ohio-class submarines that currently constitute the sea-based leg of the American nuclear triad. American strategic modernisation is not a driver in the region's strategic dynamics, but insofar as the US is executing an Asian 'pivot', American military capabilities, nuclear and conventional, remain important. 

 

This short post will not attempt a net assessment of regional or bilateral rivalries. A full analysis would need to look more closely at all dimensions of military power as well as the impact of American forces in the region. But a simple scan of the table above allows one small observation for a region that may soon be in the grips of a full-blown nuclear arms race. The prospects for stable, long-term peace (meaning greater strategic stability, the reduction of crisis instability, and fewer opportunities for accidents, chance and misperception to lead to conflict) depend, in part, on taking steps sooner rather than later to rein in potentially destabilising developments. At present, regional SSBN programs are not so advanced, and the numbers of platforms and weapons are not so large, that steps cannot avert a widening arms race. 

 

Growing numbers of submarines with nuclear-armed ballistic missiles may preserve second-strike capabilities for their possessors (and thus, debatably, contribute to strategic stability). But in the increasingly crowded seas of  Indo-Pacific Asia, greater numbers also lead to more opportunities for accidents, chance and misperception.

 

Submarine accidents are not unknown: the national tragedy of a lost boat and its crew might quickly become a regional or even global crisis if reactors or nuclear weapons have problems. Submarine operations in cramped seas also raise the possibility that one side or another will encounter the other in a crisis, with unpredictable results. Slowly maturing command and control (C2 ) and intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance (ISR) technologies still have a ways to go (look how long it took in US and the Soviet Union to develop their systems).

 

Furthermore, few speak of the challenge of ensuring the political and professional reliability of crews (while the mature nuclear powers rarely focus today on crew reliability, such concerns were quite real in the not-so-distant past). Nor are SSBNs and ballistic missiles in the Indo-Pacific the only aspect of undersea warfare and nuclear weapons that should trouble us: surface fleets, mine warfare, anti-submarine warfare and so forth increase the danger of incidents at sea, and they could raise the potential for a nuclear crisis. Knowledgeable analysts are concerned that the next stage of the Indo-Pacific naval arms race will involve still more submarines with nuclear sea-launched cruise missiles. 

Three 'nots'

If regional actors (not just the states currently pursuing SSBNs but other concerned parties) are to act to avert further arms racing and stabilise the emerging undersea deterrent, they must recognise the situation for what it is. A nuclear arms race at sea is:

• Not simply a local or regional issue.
• Not simply a military issue.
• And not simply a navy or maritime issue.

A nuclear arms race at sea is a global problem with far-reaching implications for proliferation, conventional arms modernisation, and the possibility of arms control. The mere existence of such systems makes it more likely that the so-called nuclear taboo might finally be broken. An undersea nuclear race is deeply political because it affects the geopolitical rivalry among great and regional powers, not to mention alliance structures and patterns of regional governance.

 

For all regional military forces, such a nuclear arms race at sea is not simply the business of navies: SSBNs affect joint and combined operations in ways big and small, and blur important distinctions between conventional and nuclear systems. It is worrisome that despite some recent developments there has been, in general, asymmetric progress in developing weapons systems versus the C2, ISR, training/readiness, and nuclear doctrine necessary to deploy sea-based deterrent systems safely and reliably. 

 

Although prudence on the part of India, China and other regional powers may alleviate these concerns, it may not be sufficient for those interested in regional stability. In the end, although it is not fashionable to advocate for arms control much less naval arms control, strategists and policy makers should remember the words of Schelling and Halperin: 'the essential feature of arms control is the recognition of the common interest, of the possibility of reciprocation and cooperation even between potential enemies with respect to their militaries.' And, in the words of Robert Jervis, which seem especially prescient with regard to naval nuclear arms racing in the Indo-Pacific, 'because the security dilemma and crisis instability can exacerbate if not create conflicts, potential enemies will have an interest in developing arms control arrangements.'

Hyundai Heavy Industries launches South Korean Navy submarines

Hyundai Heavy Industries has launched a new 214-class submarine, to be equipped with locally produced cruise missiles, for the South Korean Navy.

A fifth 214-class submarine for the South Korean Navy has been launched by Hyundai Heavy Industries and is expected to become operational in 2016.

The vessel is the Yun Bong Gil Ham, which weighs 1,800 tons, is 214 feet long, and has a top speed of 20 knots. The ship is the fifth 214-class submarine of the country's navy. 

According to the Department of National Defense, the ship features an air independent propulsion system that charges the submarine's storage battery without air, enabling it to stay submerged for two weeks.

Hyundai Heavy Industries will transfer the under-construction submarine to the navy in the second half of next year. Nine months of tests and evaluations will follow, culminating in the vessel gaining operational status, Korean officials said.

The country currently operates 10 209-class and 214-class submarines. The first 209-class vessel, the Jang Bo Go Ham, was taken over from Germany in 1992.

Taiwan considers building its own submarines

Taiwan will continue its efforts to purchase submarines from the United States but is also considering the possibility of developing indigenous models, the country's Ministry of National Defense said on Tuesday.

 

 

Submarines are a major factor in the Navy's efforts to beef up its defense capacity in the long term, said ministry spokesman Luo Shou-he after the opposition Democratic Progressive Party unveiled its fifth defense policy paper earlier in the day.

 

 

Lo said that while the Navy will maintain its efforts to acquire US-made submarines, it will also try to build its own or seek other supply sources.

 

 

At the launch of the DPP's defense policy paper, the party's chairman, Su Tseng-chang, said that if the DPP returns to power in 2016, it will immediately start to develop indigenous submarines and will not wait for a response from the United States on Taiwan's purchase requests.

 

 

Su said Taiwan's military spending should return to the level of 3% of GDP and the process of developing indigenous submarines should be sped up.

 

 

Legislator Lin Yu-fang of the ruling Kuomintang said the US is unlikely to build diesel-powered submarines for Taiwan because the US does not want to offend China. Furthermore, the US has not built diesel submarines in many years, he said.

 

 

Lin said Taiwan's capacity to build indigenous submarines is not as bad as imagined and it is time to show some resolve in that regard.

 

 

According to a military source, the United States agreed to sell Taiwan F-16 fighter jets after Taiwan started to develop indigenous defense fighters.

 

 

"If we can develop indigenous submarines to a certain degree, the US may consider a transfer of technology," the source said, adding that many shipbuilders in Taiwan are interested in submarine construction.

 

 

However, the entire issue hinges on the nation's defense spending, the source said.

 

 

York Chen, convener of the DPP's defense policy advisory committee, said that if Taiwan wants to build its own submarines, it should not waste time and money maintaining its 70-year-old Guppy class submarines.

 

 

Legislator Lin appeared to agree with Chen's view regarding the Guppy class submarines. "If we can't build our own submarines, we can at least learn a lot if we dismantle the two Guppy class vessels," Lin said.

 

 

Taiwan currently has two Guppy class submarines in service, both purchased from the Netherlands. It also has two other submarines, which formerly belonged to the US Navy and are now used mainly for training, according to the defense ministry's website.

Saab Is Angling To Take Control Of ThyssenKrupp Submarine Yard In Sweden

Three years ago, Kockums, the Swedish national submarine manufacturer was sold by the Swedish government to Germany’s ThyssenKrupp, but after uncertainty over jobs and boat building guarantees, it appears the Swedish government is angling for Saab to take control of the Malmo-based ship-building yard.
 

In a clear statement of intent, Sweden’s procurement agency FMV announced on Feb. 27 that it was allocating $3.84 million to test whether or not Saab had the ability to design and build the next generation of Swedish submarine.

 

 

The move was spawned by disappointment coming from the Swedish Defense Ministry that Thyssen wouldn’t give guarantees that ThyssenKrupp Marine Systems, what Thyssen renamed the old Kockums yard in Malmo, would continue to be a large-vessel producer in the region. Additionally, the ministry was concerned because Thyssen hadn’t provided fixed prices for the delivery of two new A26 generation subs and mid-life refits for the Gotland-class submarine

IDF sees steep rise in submarine operations

Last year saw spike in deployments for Israel’s nuclear-capable fleet, which is set to grow by two more vessels this year

The IDF’s submarine flotilla has seen a sharp increase in the number and duration of its at-sea operations, with a special focus on Israel’s northern neighbor Lebanon.

 According to a senior Israel Navy officer, 58 percent of the navy’s submarine flotilla’s time at sea in 2013 were in operational deployments, while the remaining 42% were for training purposes. That marks a dramatic increase from the three previous years, when submarines spent just 36% of their time at sea in operational deployments.

The navy’s submarines also conducted 54 special operations in 2013, a similarly sharp increase from previous years. The operations included deployments to the Lebanese coast and deployments lasting several weeks that took the submarines thousands of kilometers from Israel.

The navy’s figures mark a rare revelation on the part of the IDF that suggests the military has significantly upped its operational presence to counter threats from Hezbollah and the more distant Iran.

It is also likely a message to the German government, which is visiting Israel this week in a delegation led by Chancellor Angela Merkel for high-level talks with Israeli counterparts.

Israel buys its top-of-the-line, nuclear warhead-capable (according to foreign reports) Dolphin submarines from Germany, and the navy expects two new Dolphin-class subs to be delivered in the second half of 2014, the INS Tanin and INS Rahav.

 

The new submarines have engines that don’t require surfacing to acquire new air supplies, effectively expanding Israel’s naval (and, reportedly, nuclear) reach and allowing for more distant and long-lasting operations.

“Last year we carried out thousands of hours of operations in the submarines,” the commander of the navy’s submarine flotilla, Col. “G,” said in a briefing Tuesday.

“G” called the new submarines “very technologically sophisticated vessels that require highly trained and professional crews to operate them… We operate in different theaters, including the northern theater, to ensure the security of the State of Israel,” he said.

According to Brig. Gen. Eli Sharvit, commander of the navy’s Haifa base, the navy’s northern deployments are intended to protect Israel from a “highly operational” Syrian navy, which is armed with “strategic weaponry” and has maintained a powerful presence in the region despite the civil war raging in the country

 

Report: Egypt Spies Alerted Israel to German Dolphin Submarine Buy, Russian Contract to Upgrade Tanks

Leaked confessions from a pair of Egyptians accused of spying for Israel on Thursday allegedly revealed that the most serious intelligence delivered was a report in 2010 that Egypt was buying four German Dolphin submarines and signing a contract with Russia to upgrade 35 tanks, according to Egypt’s Al-Masry Al-Youm.
 

According to the newspaper, which claimed to have access to signed confessions, the intelligence reports submitted to Israel  also described military exercises by the Egyptian army, the military council at the time of the revolution, and the popularity of religious movements. The reports were sent via an encrypted laptop that the Israeli intelligence had provided and the accused agents were paid €500 ($685) per report.
 

The two alleged spies, Ramzi Ahmed al-Shebini and Sahar Salama, on Monday were referred to a criminal court, along with unnamed Israeli Mossad agents, who would be tried in absentia.
 

In the confession, al-Shebini said he repeatedly approached Israeli embassy officials in Rome to offer his services as a spy, but was rebuffed. When the Israelis finally relented, al-Shebini said he was trained by collecting information about certain churches, universities and hotels in Italy.

 

 

He recruited Salama who works for a newspaper of the armed forces. After six months, Israel accepted her as part of this espionage team and provided the pair with a bag to hide secret reports. Salama’s first reports were about Army celebrations at the military academy’s graduations and on the anniversary of the Yom Kippur War in 2009. She was then assigned to monitor army clubs and hotels, certain military industrial and agricultural projects, and military recruitment procedures.
 

In total, nine suspects, three Egyptians and six Israeli Mossad officers, were fingered in the spy ring, according to Al-Masry Al-Youm  earlier in February. Charges include transferring information about armed forces deployment, headquarters, security ambushes, infiltrators, jihadists and the Rafah border crossing in Sinai that could harm national interests, the report said.

 

PT PAL gets $250 million

Indonesia will get up to US$250 million in state capital injection (PMN) under a multi-year project for the development of submarines to support the nation’s defense system.

Of that amount, $180 million will be channeled this year, according to Deputy Finance Minister Bambang Brodjonegoro at a hearing with lawmakers at the House of Representatives on Monday.

Bambang added that out of the $250 million given to PAL, $150 would be used for the construction of the shipyard, $30 million for “consultation” and that $70 million would be spent on personnel, such as experts and technicians.

The PMN will be included in the revised state budget (APBN-P) for 2014 and the State-Owned Enterprises (BUMN) Ministry will oversee the matter.

To develop the submarines, PAL will work with South Korean shipbuilder Daewoo Shipbuilding and Marine Engineering (DSME).

Based on the contract between DSME and the Indonesian Defense Ministry in 2011, PAL’s shipyard must be completed and ready by November 2014.

The contract also states that the first two submarines will be built completely at a DSME plant in South Korea and that the third submarine will be built completely by PAL in Indonesia through the transfer of technology and knowledge.

Although the project is already running behind schedule, Navy chief of staff Adm. Marsetio claimed that the submarines built at the DSME plant were expected to be completed by 2017, while the one to be built by PAL was predicted to be completed by 2019 or 2020.

“The facilities needed for construction must be ready by November. Therefore, due to the time limit, the budget must be submitted [to the House] by April or May at the latest,” said House Commission on defense, foreign affairs and intelligence lawmaker Tubagus Hasanuddin at the hearing.

Part of the Defense Ministry’s 2010-2014 Minimum Essential Force (MEF) strategy was that Indonesia would need to procure at least 12 submarines as a deterrent strategy.

Marsetio said that if the transfer of technology was successful, he hoped that after building two submarines at DSME, Indonesia would be able to build 10 of the remaining submarines needed.

However, PAL’s absence from Monday’s hearing provoked doubts from members of House Commission I, who called on the state shipbuilder to remain committed to implementing the contract with DSME “for a successful transfer of skill and technology”.

Defense Minister Purnomo Yusgiantoro asserted that the PMN given to PAL must be spent carefully and be beneficial for Indonesia, whether in the form of deterrence, transfer of technology or export.

Purnomo is confident that Indonesia will later be able to export its production.

BUMN Minister Dahlan Iskan, who in 2011 stated that PAL would never work on big projects due to its bad performance that caused state losses of $112 million in 2012, stressed that the injection of funds to PAL was strictly for the country’s defense, not for business purposes.

Aside from building capable shipyards, Indonesia must also send 206 technicians and experts to DSME as part of the technology transfer set out in the contract. However, as of February, PAL has only sent 13 people.

 

State-owned shipbuilder PT PAL

2nd nuclear submarine lease likely to be 'X factor' in Indo-Russian summit

Deals on Kudankulam’s 3 and 4th reactor and the production of SSJ-100 are unlikely to be reached during the talks, according to informed sources

 

At least half a dozen bilateral agreements in spheres like energy, biotechnology, metrology and technical regulations, and a big ticket deal on an undisclosed subject, are expected to be signed at the 14th Indo-Russian annual summit in Moscow on October 21, key Indian officials involved in the negotiations (which are still going on) said. However the X factor that is likely to dominate the summit and the strategic outcome, whether announced or unannounced, is Russia agreeing to lease second nuclear submarine to India.

 

India has been looking to take a second nuclear submarine on lease from Russia and talks are believed to have progressed well. The two sides are keeping budget-level secrecy on this subject. The issue is likely to dominate discussions between Singh and Putin during a restricted meeting where the two principals meet with select aides.

 

Normally, sensitive subjects like nuclear submarines are not announced formally. It is yet to be seen whether the subject will find a mention in the Joint Statement to be released after the visit but a broad framework on defence and scientific cooperation is likely to be unveiled after the talks.

 

The only nuclear submarine with the Indian Navy currently, INS Chakra, has also been taken on lease from Russia. The boat joined active service in the Indian Navy in April 2012. The ten-year lease has cost India almost a billion dollars.

 

The Indian Navy personnel are quite satisfied with the leased nuclear submarine as the 80-personnel capacity boat can remain under water as long as human endurance allows. Another operational advantage of the boat is that its noise level is virtually zero which enhances its stealth qualities.

 

The second nuclear submarine lease is likely to cost considerably more. Indian Foreign Secretary Sujatha Singh is scheduled to hold a press conference on Manmohan Singh’s visit to Russia and China during which she would inevitably be asked questions about the second nuclear submarine lease plans.

 

Defence ties

 

Government-to-government route, comparable to the American Foreign Military Supplies (FMS) programme, is being actively considered to repair the strains in Indo-Russian defence relations from the Russian viewpoint.

 

Russia has been complaining to India for losing out on several defence deals over the past two years largely because of India’s radically changed Defence Procurement Policy (DPP) which puts greater emphasis on indigenization.

 

But despite some recent setbacks, Russia still tops the list of foreign defence suppliers, having secured orders worth $16 billion in orders during the three-year period of April 1, 2010 to March 31, 2013. This amounts to almost 40 percent of the Indian defence imports in this period which totaled $38 billion. Currently Russian arms factories are working on cumulative Indian orders worth $20 billion, enough to keep them busy for years.

 

Energy, trade, investment issues

 

The October 21 summit will be dominated by energy, trade and investment issues.

 

On the energy front, Kudankulam Nuclear Power Plant’s 3^rd and 4^th units and Indian concerns about ONGC’s loss-making investment in Imperial Energy which is engaged in mineral extraction in western Siberia would be the main talking points at the summit, officials said.

 

It is a work in progress on the tricky issue of KNPP 3 and 4 and no agreements are likely to be signed during the summit. The matter is currently at the technical talk’s stage.

 

The two sides’ prime focus will be on giving a much-needed impetus to the bilateral trade, currently at a below-par $11 billion with a target of taking it to $20 billion by 2015. The leaders will be tightening bolts and screws of a mechanism of deepening cooperation in multiple and diverse sectors such as information technology, fertilizers, infrastructure and aviation.

 

The two leaders are likely to discuss the idea of Russians producing passenger aircraft SSJ-100 and Irkut in India for India to keep the cost of production considerably lower. Again, an agreement is unlikely to be signed during the summit in this context because the matter is being discussed by technical experts from the two sides.

 

Fertilizer sector is another highly important area that promises rich returns as Russia is a leading producer and India a major importer of the commodity. The two sides are likely to agree to intensify their cooperation in this area which can give billions of dollars to Russia in the long run.

Germans look to sink Swedish sub maker

German industrial conglomerate ThyssenKrupp bought Kockums in 2005 to form part of what is known as ThyssenKrupp Marine Systems (TKMS), a firm which also owns German submarine maker HDW, a direct competitor of Kockums.

A source told The Local that the purchase was aimed at getting rid of Germany’s Swedish submarine rival and that TKMS was jeopardizing Swedish export deals for submarines with the Australian and Singaporean governments.

"The purchase of Kockums wasn't aimed at consolidating the naval industry and creating synergies, but at getting rid of a competitor," a source in Germany with direct knowledge of the situation told The Local.

Kockums and its predecessors have been building ships for the Swedish navy for centuries at the Karlskrona shipyard in southern Sweden that now serves as the base of the company's Swedish operations.

But according to a German naval manufacturing consultant with ties to TKMS, ThyssenKrupp is actively trying to sabotage Kockums export operations to the advantage of Germany’s HDW, a strategy he dubbed "TKMS über alles" and slammed as "suicide".

The Germans' efforts to sink Sweden's submarine industry have been ongoing since at least 2011, according to the source, when TKMS CEO Hans Christoph Atzpodien denied Kockums the opportunity to bid on a project in Singapore for the construction of new submarines, despite the Swedish firm's long-standing relationship in the country.

Earlier this year, the German firm decreed that the Swedish shipbuilder officially change its corporate name to ThyssenKrupp Marine Systems, scrapping the Kockums brand name that has been a part of Swedish industry since the early 1800s.

'A raging war is taking place'

In August, during a meeting in Bonn, Germany with officials from Singapore defence agency DSTA held, Atzpodien claimed that Kockums "would no longer be capable of designing and building submarines", according to the source.

"A raging war is taking place between Kockums and TKMS," he said, explaining that the Singapore deal has brought the situation into sharp relief.

Among other things, Atzpodien disparaged Kockums plans for a new A26 class of submarine, claiming the Swedish firm didn't have enough engineers to complete the project, and that it was sure to be plagued with cost overruns and delays.

"Atzpodien has systematically ejected Kockums from the discussions and has barred Kockums from Singapore," the source explained.

TKMS has also complicated Kockums' chances for new contracts in Australia, another country where the Swedish shipbuilder has a strong presence, having designed and built six Collins-class submarines in the 1990s in what was one of the largest export deals ever at the time.

But Kockums found itself left out of a 2012 initial call for proposals from Australia to replace the aging subs with an off the shelf solution, while its German-based competitor and sister company HDW was one of three European firms asked to participate.

Earlier this year, however, Australia and Sweden did ink a deal allowing for Kockums to take part in the project, dubbed SEA 1000, which calls for the building of 12 new submarines.

But in the meantime, TKMS purchased an Australian naval defence firm, Australian Marine Technologies, that "could do the same job as Kockums could have done on its own," the source said.

"TKMS has here again torpedoed all the efforts of Kockums to run this future competition because it has already created its own footprint," the source told The Local.

A Swedish saviour?

The Swedish government, as well as officials with the primary defence procurement agency, the Defence Materiel Administration (FMV), has been made aware of the situation and have become so unhappy they have asked Swedish defence contractor Saab to look into a possible purchase of Kockums, a source within the Swedish defence industry told The Local.

"Discussions are taking place right now," according to the source, who agreed that TKMS is trying to strangle Sweden's ship building industry.

"The only reason TKMS owns Kockums is to stop them from exporting," the Swedish source explained, adding that the Swedish firm "could not exist" without export contracts.

Allan Widman, a Liberal Party (Folkpartiet) MP from Malmö and the party's defence policy spokesman said he is "worried" about Kockum's future in light of the rift with TKMS.

"Submarine building capabilities are essential for our armed forces and our ability to defend ourselves," he told The Local, adding that he had heard a number of "industry rumours" about the discord between TKMS and Kockums.

Adding to his concern is the fact that two years have passed since the Swedish parliament Riksdag approved funding for the development of the A26 submarine for the Swedish navy, but nothing has happened, reportedly due to concerns over ThyssenKrupp's ownership of Kockums.

"I hope Kockums isn't prevented from doing business with other countries. It's not constructive," said Widman, adding he would welcome Swedish ownership for the Karlskrona-based shipbuilder.

"I would have no objection to private Swedish ownership of Kockums," he said when asked about the Saab deal.

However, if the Swedish and German firms can't strike a suitable deal to resolve the situation, Widman said the dispute may require a "political solution".

"This is a matter that's vital to our national security," he said, stressing that he hopes both Germany and Sweden can maintain submarine building capacity.

"In the end, however, it may require a political dialogue between Sweden and Germany to find a suitable solution."

When reached by The Local for comment on the Saab-Kockums negotiations, a Saab spokesman refused to comment.

"We don't speculate on rumours like that," the spokesman said.

A spokesperson with FMV also chose not to comment citing an "ongoing procurement".

A spokesman with Kockums in Sweden also refused to comment on the reported disunity within TKMS, while spokeswoman with TKMS in Germany said the company was "unable to comment on market rumours".

Israel to develop unmanned submarines

The Ministry of Defense's Administration for the Development of Weapons and Technological Infrastructure (Mafat) has set the next challenge for Israel's defense industry: do for unmanned submarines what it did for unmanned aerial warfare. If the defense industry moves quickly and purposefully in identifying this emerging market, and offers a well-functioning unmanned submarine, it could be riding the right wave in a decade from now: Mafat aeronautics division director Dr. Yuval Cohen estimates that the market will be worth $2 billion a year in 2020.

If Israel was the spearhead of unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs), there is no reason why it cannot spearhead unmanned submarines. "We have the academic infrastructures and skills needed to work on the development of tools in this field, and if the defense industry invests the necessary resources in R&D, it will have something to sell the world, because there will be strong demand for these platforms," Cohen told "Globes".

 In early October, Mafat staff presented its vision of unmanned submarines at a special conference organized by the magazine "Israel Defense". While Israel rushes ahead with UAVs, and is developing unmanned land vehicles and unmanned patrol boats, Mafat says that the challenges of developing unmanned submarines are huge: in contrast to UAVs, which are operated by commands from ground command and control systems via satellite communications, these are unavailable beneath the oceans. Undersea communications is acoustics-based, which have limited volume and range. Unmanned submarines will therefore need high levels of automation and independent navigation.

 Unmanned submersibles, which are linked to the supply ship by cable, already exist, but they are short-range vehicles and have limited utility. Nonetheless, unmanned submarines have huge potential, if only because in a future battlefield, they can replace navy commandoes for special ops or plant intelligence devices off a hostile shore.

In the face of new dangers on the high seas, such as the threats of mines to paralyze shipping lanes, unmanned submarines could be a paying investment. "Naval mines weigh hundreds of kilograms. They are big, but hard to see among all the detritus on the sea floor. It's like looking for a needle in haystack. These are sophisticated mines, which activate themselves and explode at the acoustic signal of the engines of a ship passing overhead, changes in water pressure when a ship passes overhead, or magnetic mines, which attach to any metal ship. Until a shipping lane is fully cleared of mines, no one will sail in the area, effectively creating a naval blockade. The current response to this threat is slow and very expensive sweeps. Development of an automated unmanned submarine for efficient minesweeping, without risking human lives, should be very worthwhile and there is a good global market," says Cohen.

The defense establishment declines to discuss Mafat's involvement in development programs for technologies needed for unmanned submarines. Nonetheless, its involvement goes beyond words: it has intensive ties with defense companies and academic institutions, such as the Technion Israel Institute of Technology, Bar Ilan University, and Ben Gurion University of the Negev, which are engaged in the field. "I see strong motivation at defense companies in investing and fostering this field," says Cohen. "This field has been in the doldrums until now, but there are signs that that the winds are picking up."

Engineers inspired by octopus silent propulsion system

A team of German scientists develop a silent propulsion system for boats and submarines based on the natural movement of octopuses. 

In 1870 Jules Verne described the Nautilus as "a masterpiece containing masterpieces". Verne, an advanced mind for his era, was no stranger to coming up with fictitious ideas that will later on become a reality - From the Earth to the Moon, 20,00 Leagues Under the Sea. A team of German scientist from the Fraunhofer Institute have recently unveiled a Vernesque nautical propulsion system based on the cephalopods rocketry movement. Octopuses, like other cephalopods, can move around by using its tentacles as legs; but when a rapid movement is required, they can eject a jet of water from their mantle through the siphon for a short burst in order to escape from any peril.

This development of natural evolution has been the inspiration behind the latest water propulsion system designed at the Fraunhofer Institute for Manufacturing Engineering and Automation in Stuttgart, Germany. Among the many novelties in this prototype, is the possibility of being 3D printed in a single step. A set of four artificial mantles (elastic balls) replicate the cephalopods movement by filling up with water through a recirculation valve and then internal cables work as the muscle fibers by contracting when activated by the piston, ejecting the fluid through the steerable siphon. The prototype currently fits in a medium fish tank, but it can be scaled up to reproduce elastic mantles of up to two meters in diameter. This would allow for boats, submarines and recreational ships to be propelled by this system. The innovation has many benefits when compared with the current bladed propeller methods: 1. It represents zero danger to sea life because it has no bladed parts that can cut and kill animal life. 2. It does not need any rotating part, therefore it is much more silent than any diesel engine or gas turbine. This could potentially revolutionize stealth vessels. 3. The reduced complexity of the system makes it easier and cheaper to maintain due to the lack of many rotating parts. There are currently other similar ideas to the replication of the octopus propulsion system, but this is the first one fully built with a 3D printer. As of now, the invention is still in its prototype stage, and it will take years before this revolutionary system is present in the market. However, as more players join the competition, the development towards a certified product will move faster.

Vietnam buys six submarines

In a meeting with voters of Phu Cu district in Hung Yen province last week, Defense Minister Phung Quang Thanh said that to modernize the army, Vietnam has ordered six submarines.

The security- defense related issues, including modernizing the Vietnam People's Army was mentioned by the Defense Minister in the meeting.

The minister reaffirmed that the military and police forces are well coordinated to ensure stability, security and territorial integrity of the country, including the integrity of the waters and islands.

Related to the disputes in the East Sea, the head of the Defense Ministry confirmed that the army in particular and Vietnam in general will not use force, but through negotiations to find satisfactory solutions.

He said that Vietnam and China are in talks to set up a joint fishing area for fishermen two countries. The two sides have mutual respect to and abide by the principles of the Law of the Sea 1982 and the UN Declaration on the Conduct of Parties in the East Sea (DOC), keep the current status quo in the disputed areas while finding long-term solutions that are acceptable to all parties.

He also informed that in the 10 zones in the continental shelf of Vietnam, there are 15 oil rigs performing oil and gas exploration and exploitation, generating income for the country.

General Phung Quang Thanh also said that in an effort to modernize the army for the national defense, the army has purchased a number of weapons and new equipment, including some modern aircraft Su-30’s of Russia and seaplanes.

To protect the waters, he said, Vietnam has also ordered marine missiles, modern ships and six submarines from Russia.