The U.S. Navy Is Practicing Sweeping the Atlantic Ocean of Russian Submarines

Russian submarines are becoming more aggressive within the Atlantic . Deploying in greater
numbers as far because the U.S. East Coast , Russian attack submarines could threaten U.S. military
shipping hurrying to strengthen Europe within the event of war.nIn response, the U.S. fleet in March
2020 is doing something it hasn’t wiped out decades. Practicing to guard convoys.

Russian submarines are becoming more aggressive within the Atlantic . Deploying in greater
numbers as far because the U.S. East Coast, Russian attack submarines could threaten U.S. military
shipping hurrying to strengthen Europe within the event of war.

In response, the U.S. fleet in March 2020 is doing something it hasn’t wiped out decades. Practicing
to guard convoys.

“The Navy is exercising a contested cross-Atlantic convoy operation for the primary time since the
end of the conflict , employing a carrier strike group to pave the way for sealift ships with a cruiser
escort to bring the military ground equipment for the Defender-20 exercise,” USNI News reported.

This convoy operation is allowing U.S. 2nd Fleet, navy Europe and Military Sealift
Command to figure command and control on each side of the Atlantic to deliver gear by sea –
replicating the huge sealift efforts that happened to support the ecu theater in World
War II, and what would need to happen again if the U.S. were to support a serious conflict in
Europe within the future.

A recent Russian undersea surge underscored the threat submarines could pose to American
shipping. The Russian navy in mid-October 2019 sortied eight subs within the country’s biggest
undersea exercise since the conflict .

The eight submarines, including six nuclear-powered ships, sailed from their bases in northern
Russia into the cold waters of the Barents and Norwegian Seas. At an equivalent time, a further
two boats -- the nuclear-powered Sierra-class attack submarines Pskov and Nizhny Novgorod --
sailed into roughly an equivalent waters for tests and training.

the ten vessels represent around 20 percent of the Russian submarine force. For comparison, the
U.S. Pacific Fleet with its roughly 30 subs as recently as 2013 reliably could deploy eight boats on
short notice.

The nuclear-powered supercarrier USS Eisenhower is leading the present convoy exercise. “The
Ike, along side an unidentified submarine sweeping the depths of the ocean for unexpected
Russian guests, is participating in an exercise which will throw simulated attacks at the convoy to
assay how prepared the Navy is to punch its way across the Atlantic,” Breaking Defense
explained.

the trail is being cleared for the roll-on/roll-off USNS Benavidez, along side U.S.-flagged
shipping M/V Resolve and M/V Patriot, which departed Beaumont, Texas Feb. 24 to
deliver equipment to the U.S. Army’s Defender-20 exercise in Europe.

The ships are carrying gear for the first Armored Division, including Abrams tanks, Bradley
Fighting Vehicles and other heavy armor.

The Pentagon in recent years has begun to stress about its ability to resupply far-flung forces
during a serious conflict. In September 2019, Military Sealift Command conducted a “stress test,”
activating 33 sealift ships on both U.S. coasts.

As a part of the exercise, the five East Coast roll-on/roll-off cargo ships simulated an unescorted
convoy moving through waters where enemy submarines and sea mines posed a threat.

That training belied a significant shortage of surface warships that would function as escorts. In
October 2018, U.S. Maritime Administration head Mark Buzby said the Navy admitted it
wouldn’t always be ready to escort sealift ships during a war with Russia or China.

the great news for the Americans is that the Russian fleet can’t possibly continue its current high
rate of submarine deployments. By the late 2020s or early 2030s, the Russian navy could lose all
but 12 of its existing subs because the vessels reactors wear out.

If Moscow succeeds in producing all the new Borei- and Yasen-class boats it plans to accumulate , the
future submarine fleet could top out at just 28 boats. Half its current strength.

“Eventually a way smaller number of recent , more capable boats will carry the burden of
fulfilling [Russian president Vladimir] Putin’s grand plans of Russia remaining a maritime
superpower capable of meaning to a worldwide presence under the ocean ,” naval historian Iain
Ballantyne told The National Interest.

The U.S. Navy has an equivalent problem, of course. In December 2016 the Navy announced it
needed 66 attack and cruise-missile submarines so as to satisfy regional commanders' needs.
But in early 2020 the fleet had just 56 attack and cruise-missile boats plus 14 ballistic-missile
boats. That number is projected to fall by several per annum through the late 2020s.

David Axe is Defense Editor of the National Interest. he's the author of the graphic
novels War Fix, War Is Boring and Machete Squad.

Photo Credit: Pacific (May 20, 2012) An SH-60F Sea Hawk helicopter assigned to
Helicopter Anti-Submarine Squadron (HS) 15 flies past the Nimitz-class carrier USS Carl
Vinson (CVN 70) during an aviation demonstration for embarked tiger cruise participants. Carl
Vinson and Carrier Air Wing (CVW) 17 are underway on a tiger cruise after completing a
deployment to the U.S. 5th and 7th Fleet areas of operations. (U.S. Navy photo by Mass
Communication Specialist 2nd Class James R. Evans/Released)