May as well paint the subs pink!
China sub stalked US carrier, says report | NEWS.com.au — This is ludicrous to allow this.
A CHINESE submarine approached a US aircraft carrier in the Pacific Ocean last month and surfaced within firing range of its torpedoes and missiles before being detected, The Washington Times reported today.
The newspaper said the encounter highlighted China’s continuing efforts to prepare for a possible future conflict with the United States despite the administration’s efforts to try to boost relations with the Chinese military.
The submarine encounter with the USS Kitty Hawk and its battle group also is an embarrassment to the commander of US forces in the Pacific, Admiral William Fallon, who is engaged in an ambitious military exchange program with China, the report said.
Citing unnamed defence officials, the paper said the Chinese Song-class diesel-powered attack submarine shadowed the Kitty Hawk undetected and surfaced within 5 miles (8km) of the carrier on October 26.
found by Aric Mackey who says the reason nobody is talking about this is because of our new dependency on China.
#29 catbeller, I also take comfort in the fact that China still thinks we’re a sound investment. When that money stops flowing, then it’s time to start sh***ing bricks, from both a military and an economic viewpoint 😉
There is, of course, the slight possibility that the Americans, who’ve been studying ASW (Anti Submarine Warfare) through two world wars, the cold war and this, that, and the other thing, might have been tracking the sub all along but feel it would be counter productive to brag on it.
My feelings on the difference between serving aboard a surface ship or a submarine was that should the destroyer, LST or minesweeper (all ship types I served in) went down we would have had the good sense to abandon ship.
Never let your enemy know your capabilities.
How do we know if the US Fast Attack sub that was with the Kitty Hawk Battle Group was tailing the ChiCom sub for hours or days, undetected? We would never release such info, at least not officially.
Lets give our people some credit, too.
Sundog, China will no more launch a first strike at the US then the Soviet Union would have. Mutual assured destruction (MAD) will deter any sain leader as their country would be utterly destroyed as a result. Even a surprise first strike would not effect our SSBN fleet, which even one sub would be able to wipe China off the map. So I wouldn’t worry about them. Iran and North Korea are different stories as both their leaders are madmen with no concern for their safety of their country’s.
“Mutual assured destruction (MAD) will deter any sain leader as their country would be utterly destroyed as a result. ”
I agree, and the keyword is “sane”. But, if you read the article, The General said they were prepared to lose half of their country, no prob. Of course we both know that nuclear winter would probably kick in so those guys have their underground bunkers, etc. I wonder what would happen if one of our top military leaders made a statement like he did. We (The US) didnt even protest the statement. We went to WalMart, the very next day.
I spent many years of my life as an anti-submarine helicopter pilot and we always said that if we ever lost a carrier again it would probably be to a submarine. Carrier battle groups are run by fighter/attack pilots, and their mindset is such that regardless of how much they acknowledge it from an intellectual standpoint, it’s almost impossible emotionally for them to view something they can’t see as a threat. And while some might dispute this, the fact is that fighter pilots, while physically and intellectually mature, often have the emotional maturity of a 13-year-old–yes, Top Gun was spot-on in their portrayal of fighter pilots. So, my point is, this does not surprise me at all. The only thing that might save our butts is that in contrast to the really, really professional submariners–Russian, German, U.S.–I think the Chinese skippers would stick a periscope up before they would ever shoot. Every third-world sub skipper I ever went up against in exercises did, and we would nail them on our radar–if we didn’t already have them. But that would only happen if the battle group is maintaining a proper ASW screen, and sometimes the carrier won’t let the destroyers and frigates launch their ASW helicopters if it might interfere with their precious flight flight schedule. […trying hard not to sound bitter but not succeeding too well…] Also, OmarTheAlien is spot on–if we did know he was there we would never, ever own up to it. I can never discuss any specific instances of tracking “non-U.S. or known friendly” submarines, even though I can admit to having done so.