America is fighting the Fourth Battle of the Atlantic: Navy admiral warns Russian submarines are waging Cold War-style operations in ‘alarming and confrontational ways’
- Vice Admiral James Foggo III outlined Russia’s submarine operations, calling them ‘alarming and confrontational’
- He warned that Russia’s submarines are waging the ‘Fourth Battle of the Atlantic’
- Foggo said the country’s national-security policy is ‘aimed at challenging US and its NATO allies and partners’
- Increased Russian submarine presence in the Atlantic are most visible sign of renewed interest in submarine warfare by President Vladimir V Putin
The commander of the Navy’s US 6th Fleet has warned that Russian submarines are waging a Cold War-style ‘fourth battle of the Atlantic’.
Vice Admiral James Foggo III outlined Russia’s submarine operations, which he said is probing US anti-submarine networks, in an article for the US Naval Institute’s June issue of Proceedings.
In his article he explained the submarine battles between the Allies and the Germans in World War I, World War II and the Cold War, between the US and the Soviets, and how they compare to Russia’s actions today.
Vice Admiral James Foggo III (left) said that Russia’s current actions ‘prowling’ the Atlantic have ‘increased in alarming and confrontational ways’. The patrols are the most visible sign of a renewed interest in submarine warfare by President Vladimir V Putin (right)
Russian submarine Severodvinsk Russia has stepped up its submarine operations and is regularly probing US anti-submarine networks in possible ‘fourth battle of the Atlantic’
He compared those first, second and third battles to Russia’s current actions ‘prowling the Atlantic’.
Foggo wrote: ‘Once again, an effective, skilled, and technologically advanced Russian submarine force is challenging us. Russian submarines are prowling the Atlantic, testing our defenses, confronting our command of the seas, and preparing the complex underwater battlespace to give them an edge in any future conflict.’
He said that Russia’s current actions and capabilities have ‘increased in alarming and confrontational ways’ as its national-security policy is ‘aimed at challenging the United States and its NATO allies and partners’.
The increased submarine presence are the most visible sign of a renewed interest in submarine warfare by President Vladimir Putin, whose government has spent billions of dollars for new classes of diesel and nuclear-powered attack submarines that are quieter and better armed and operated, according to The New York Times.
The tensions are part of an expanding rivalry and military buildup between the US and Russia.
Since the presence of Russian submarines have increased in the Atlantic, the Pentagon is attempting to maintain its supremacy.
Last month, US Navy Commodore Ollie Lewis told CNN: ‘We were operating in places where we didn’t have to rely on an adversary being there to challenge us. That’s changing.’
‘So we’re back to the point now where we have to consider there is an adversary ready to challenge us in the undersea domain and that undersea superiority is not guaranteed,’ Lewis said.
The US Navy also told CNN in April that Russian submarine activity was reaching levels unseen for decades.
Foggo wrote that Russia is ‘rapidly closing the technological gap with the US’.
‘It has created an advanced military designed to overcome our advantages and exploit our weaknesses—this is the epitome of asymmetric warfare.
The tensions are part of an expanding rivalry and military buildup between the US and Russia. But since the presence of Russian submarines have increased in the Atlantic, the Pentagon is attempting to maintain its supremacy. Pictured is a Russian submarine
‘Russia rapidly is building and deploying more advanced and significantly quieter attack submarines and frigates armed with the long-range Kalibr cruise missile’, which he wrote, includes six new ‘Kilo-class nuclear-powered attack submarines destined for the Black Sea’.
Russian officials admitted the increased submarine operations over the last two years. Russian Navy head Adm Viktor Chirkov said in March 2015 that submarine operations have increased by 50 per cent, according to Sputnik News.
‘This is logical and necessary to guarantee the security of the state,’ he said at the time.
Russia now employs an ‘arc of steel’ from the Arctic through the Baltic and as well as the Black Sea, Foggo wrote.
And because of that reason, ‘combined with extensive and frequent submarine patrols throughout the North Atlantic and the Norwegian Sea, and forward-deployed forces in Syria, Russia has the capability to hold nearly all NATO maritime forces at risk’, Foggo wrote.
But in regards to winning the fourth battle today, Foggo wrote: ‘With our allies and partners in NATO and across the globe, we present a broad and united front against any potential Russian threats.‘
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FROM THE BEGINNING: A SUMMARY OF THE BATTLES OF THE ATLANTIC
First Battle of the Atlantic 1914-1918: The Atlantic U-boat campaign of World War I was the prolonged naval conflict between German submarines and the Allied navies in Atlantic waters—the seas around the British Isles, the North Sea and the coast of France.
It was directed against the British Grand Fleet, but later extended to include action against the trade routes of the Allied powers. This campaign was highly destructive, and resulted in the loss of nearly half of Britain’s merchant marine fleet during the course of the war.
Second Battle of the Atlantic 1939-1945: German U-boats threatened the Allies with new tactics and technologies based on experiences in the previous war.
The Germans had learned how to overcome the antisubmarine warfare (ASW) advantages of the Allies, and only by again bringing new technologies, tactics, and resources to bear did the Allies prevail.
Third Battle of the Atlantic 1945- early 90s: During the Cold War, US ASW forces engaged in a constant cat-and-mouse game with the Soviet Union’s submarines.
Nuclear power, ballistic and cruise missiles, and quieter systems empowered Soviet submarines in troubling ways. To respond, the US and its allies were forced to build greater and more effective ASW forces and continually refine their own ASW technologies to counter the Soviets.
Source: BBC History
Russian Navy head Adm Viktor Chirkov said in March 2015 that submarine operations have increased by 50 per cent. Pictured is a borei-class nuclear ballistic missile submarine
SOURCE:
- The Fourth Battle of the Atlantic | U.S. Naval Institute
- Admiral: Russian Subs Waging New ‘Battle of the Atlantic’
- CNN visits nuclear sub amid tensions with Russia – CNNPolitics.com
- Russian Nuclear Submarines Step Up Patrols Over Past Year – Navy Commander
- www.nytimes.com/…
