Came across this latest article written by H.I.Sutton how China has build underground tunnels to protect its submarines
A submarine in a tunnel is not an effective submarine. If they are going to hide them away and not use them then they might as well not have any.
Russia may have a problem with detecting a modern submarine such as a very quiet Virginia probably even from 10 km.
SSBNs would be hunted using active sonar, but no Virginia class submarine would go anywhere near Russian coasts because the sea bed sonar arrays would be Russias best opportunity to detect them.
Russia doesn't need to sink US SSBNs... just shooting down their SLBMs with S-400 will be good enough.
Similarly, in the case of the Yasen ship, where the USA could not detect it when it was sailing on the Atlantic. Current submarines are so quiet that it is very difficult to detect them from a distance of 40-50 km?
Which is pretty much why the domestic versions don't have much greater ranges... there is no point.
If the target is too far an helicopter will be there faster. The kalibr torpedo missiles have 50km max.
They also have helicopters as an option too...
I agree if it had more range like 500km or more then it would be better. But even then equiping helos with deapth charges and torpedoes has the advantage that the target can be attacked ASAP and you don't risk losing the track while the missile is flying and reach an empty area.
500km would be ridiculous... the rocket would need to be enormous to deliver a torpedo that distance... and 99% of the time it would not be used to anything like that distance.
They are developing Minoga... a 500km/h plus replacement for the Helix family of helicopters... I am sure that will be plenty.
If the taret is too far your helo will run out of fuel anyway and you loose the track of the target. The sub won't wait for your torpedoes. Eitger it will use missile to destroy your helicopter or run away.
You think one ship will launch one helo to attack one sub?
Traditionally subs are hunted by groups of ships with multiple helicopters running search patterns looking for the signatures of submarines... keep in mind that in the near future such a game is going to be complicated by numbers of unmanned underwater vessels that look like subs and might sound like subs too.
50km max range for the kalibr torpedo missiles means if the target is 150km away the ship will need to sail for 100km so 2 hours. The helicopter would have used plenty of fuel for patroling and finding the sub so it would have very low amount left for tracking it. If it has a torpedo it can destroy the sub quickly.
If the target sub is more than 50km away from the ship it presents less of a threat to the ship... and other ships closer to where the helicopter is searching might be able to take the shot...
Once the helicopter gets more than 40km away from the ship it is operating from it can fly back and pick up some torpedoes or guided depth charges...
Helicopters can look for subs and engage it immediatly with a torpedo.
It can but any enemy SSK will detect the helicopter well before any helicopter will detect the sub and will be gone and never found at 200km let alone 50km.
A helicopter looking for subs is not the same as a helicopter looking for tanks... looking is the key, because you can't see anything... the most common use for the helicopter and the dipping sonar will be looking for mines and enemy subs in very shallow water where they might actually see the sub...
Surface tagets are detected at 100km, tells you why subs have the advantage over surface ships.
Surface targets are not trying to be quiet... especially British ships apparently...
And if you don't have other sensors in the area where your operates but you know enemy has sub hunting your ships ? Like for exemple Malvinas war during which both had only their ships/subs to track subs.
Sunoboys droped by helicopters can make a barrier for few hours since they work on battery and are worse than the heli sonar in terms of perf and they have limited stocks.
Waiting for remote contact will send your ships to the bottom. The best is have plenty of choppers and patrol the area around your ship and expend that zone if you find nothing. That can be made by dropping sunoboys or use their own sonars while the ship's sonar will cover the zone around the ship.
So if that is the case... how many hundreds of kilometres away from the ships you are protecting do you think your helicopters could possibly cover with as you admit a limited number of disposable sensors on board them.
This restriction and reduction in range actually counts in favour of ship launched high speed weapons...
Land based MPAs obviously make coverage better... especially with the shallower coastal waters...
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