Originally Posted by
Asturias56
Possession of SSN's makes everyone else's surface fleets a target - the threat is well known, proven (see "Belgrano") - and almost impossible to defend against. It really crimps people's options.
No -one knows if AIP and other modern, non-nuclear, boats are as effective, or effective at all. If Australia thinks it may need to deter China they'll want keep them as far away as possible and the conventional boats can't get very far north - pretty much limited to E Indonesia and SSW Pacific. The UK has shallow water areas in the N Sea but a large area of the N Atlantic to cover as well. A single SSN can cover a far larger area than a conventional boat and you have much greater flexibility - albeit at an eye watering cost
1. There are 68 operational AIP submarines operating today, with various types of systems.
2. A submarine is a complication to an adversary whether there or not, if the location is unknown, it is a threat that surface skimmers, AKA "targets" need to take counter measures against. That is almost always the problem for the other side, unless it is a whiskey or foxtrot that is half submerged at a mooring in Surabaya...
3. We live in a time where there is a disruption to the classical practice of fighting the last war, we need to be looking at how to increase the effectiveness of our capabilities in achieving national security rather than racing about in shiny new high value targets, that become capital ships that are too valuable to put in harms way.
4. Subs conduct intel gathering, spec-ops support etc, and being a portable weapons platform, more than running around chasing convoys. If the boat is that close to the target, it has already missed the plot. I've taken photos of the screws of a combat ship through a search periscope, and as much fun as that was in the 70's and 80's doing so with 1/4 of your navy combat capability in one basket is not a wise use of assets.
The Ukrainians have spilt a lot of their own blood, it is up to us to learn from their teachings, like removing a traditional major naval fleet from contention without having your own boats.