Eternal controversy, perpetual success: Naval submarines and their crews have always co-existed with a climate of nationwide controversy and debate as to their proper roles and even their relevance. But whenever the clarion call to arms was sounded, in a too-often complacent and unprepared America, talented improvisation by our submariners helped save the day. Repeatedly, during conflict after conflict, the new things that old subs could do held delightful surprises, and the infinite versatility of these platforms impressed all those in the know. Their lineage and utilization follow a twisted trail over the years, which itself forms interesting reading -- required reading to make informed decisions about acquisition planning today.

Walk along this trail with me and you’ll see what I mean. A side lesson we’ll learn is that trends in global warfare can’t be managed like they’re a business, and main events or changes -- discontinuities -- can’t be predicted by spreadsheeting.

As commerce raiders in World War I, some people considered submariners too ungentlemanly, even calling them modern pirates. Yet in that very same role in World War II, sinking enemy merchant ships, American submarines gallantly led the charge to retake the western Pacific from Imperial Japan -- when our battleships still sat crippled or sunk in Pearl Harbor, and our aircraft carriers were initially badly overstretched.

For a while between the world wars, subs were thought of as surface-fleet escorts and scouts, or as harbor-defense vessels, depending on the at-sea endurance of the particular submarine class. Neither role really panned out at the time, yet nowadays no carrier strike group’s commander would even think of steaming near a global conflict zone without one or several nuclear subs on his team. In the context of homeland security, when a terrorist or rogue sub might sneak near our shores by a shrewd exploitation of oceanographic conditions, severe weather, and other tricks, harbor defense isn’t trivial. Funny how concepts that once seemed quaint can take on so much immediacy, isn’t it?

American submarines in W.W.II were also desperately pressed into service as forward-deployed radar pickets, giving early warning of approaching enemy planes -- especially the dreaded kamikazes. (Subs were a lot more survivable at this than destroyers, since they could dive after radioing an alarm; all the destroyers could do was get sunk.) Other subs covertly emplaced, supplied, and extracted what we’d now call special operations forces, in all theaters. This ranged from supporting coast watchers in the Pacific, to the Brits towing X-Craft and other minisubs in the battle again Nazi Germany. Subs sank enemy warships aplenty, too, including aircraft carriers and even surfaced submarines. Whenever requested, they saved downed aviators -- each man a priceless asset -- from Japanese-occupied islands or the cruel sea. George H. W. Bush probably owes his life to U.S. Navy submariners -- and indirectly so does his son, our current commander in chief. Dubya ought to reflect on that.

When World War II ended and led straight to the Cold War, submarine mission roles changed again, in ways undreamed of before, but they remained as necessary as ever to freedom and peace: At first the Silent Service soldiered on with diesel boats, either leftovers from the big shooting war, or “improved” derivative classes. Sonar science, and the importance of quieting, advanced in leaps and bounds. Nuclear weapons began to proliferate from the moment of their birth, and practical nuclear propulsion for submarines followed a decade thereafter. Nuclear-powered fast attacks (SSNs) revolutionized submarine ops, becoming the first-ever genuine “submarines” (as opposed to “submersibles”) -- able to stay deeply submerged for prolonged periods. No more that risky daily snorkeling or surfacing to run the noisy diesel engines and recharge the flammable batteries! Genuine ongoing stealth had at last arrived. HOO-YAH.

When subs and early cruise missiles were wedded, new types of warship emerged, the SSG and SSGN. When nuclear-tipped ballistic missiles joined the show, the strategic deterrent strength of SSBNs came to the fore. Concurrently, homing torpedoes able to attack a submerged and evading target grew ever more effective and reliable. The best sub-hunters, instead of surface ships or aircraft, became other subs. That antisubmarine job took on huge urgency when a single enemy SSBN could (and still can) potentially wipe out a dozen -- later, with MIRVs, two hundred -- friendly cities and bases. Spying against the other side acquired new significance, and undersea superiority against our opponent’s nuclear submarines became one key to democracy’s and civilization’s survival. The Cold War’s psy-ops arena was one where the Silent Service played an absolutely indispensable part: Successful American crews messed with the minds of the Russkie submariners they trailed, and through them messed with the minds in the Kremlin. By amazing but classified feats of eavesdropping, they read those Kremlin minds as if they had ESP.

But despite prophecies to the contrary, nuclear weapons did not put an end to war. Conventional conflicts raged, and in these American SSNs contributed. As just one example, SEALs have said publicly that during Vietnam they sometimes worked in the sewers of Hanoi -- staging from U.S. Navy subs that our adversary never even suspected were there. Later, a single Royal Navy SSN, HMS Conqueror, by sinking an Argentine cruiser altered the nature and tone in the Falklands; an aggressor was punished, repulsed.

The Cold War ended. Peace seemed at hand. But it wasn’t. Almost immediately after the Berlin Wall fell, Saddam Hussein invaded Kuwait. In the Gulf War that we and our allies fought to expel him, many of the Tomahawks used were fired from U.S. and Royal Navy subs -- their stealth cut down considerably on the enemy’s warning that missiles were inbound. (During Operation Iraqi Freedom, even more of the Tomahawks launched were fired from subs.) Willy-nilly, submariners found themselves doing work once reserved for surface Sailors: naval gunfire support, except with a reach some forty times as great as an extended-range sixteen-inch shell. All of a sudden, the men who wore the Dolphins were decisively influencing events from far out in deep water to well inside the enemy’s coast. Who’d’ve thunk it?

In the multiple wars in the Balkans, SSNs played yet another new role: detecting and helping interdict high-speed surface boats acting as gun runners. The same skills apply in the War on Drugs. So, who were the “pirates” now? Seems a tad ironic.

Full circle, yet brand new: Some pundits have argued that at the end of the Cold War, nuclear submarines became “a solution in search of a problem.” Submariners, it’s even been said, were compelled to manufacture novel taskings merely to justify their own continued existence. And submarines, folks would claim, were museum pieces now, relics of an era and a geopolitical line-up fading rapidly into ancient history. Boy were they wrong.

Many present and future mission roles for the Silent Service trace back directly to things subs achieved in the past. These roles remain as essential now as they were in every prior war or peacekeeping period. If anything, with the 21st century turning out to be much more violent and unstable than expected -- and the spectrum of possible future armed conflict vastly broader than once seemed conceivable -- the missions and technologies of submarines move closer than ever to the lead-off hitter spot in preserving our way of life. (Re the clear and present danger of the major-war end of that spectrum, see my Archived “From Russia, Not Love”, “The Undiscovered Country”, and “Big War No More?”.)

OK, enough context. Let’s get down to business. Types of current and near-future submarine mission tasking include:

1. Continuing nuclear deterrence. Weapons of mass destruction proliferate -- and more countries acquire ballistic missile or cruise missile subs. See 2.

2. Indications-and-warnings against non-state terrorists, Third World pariah countries, and emerging or re-emerging rival superpowers. (Put al Qaeda, Hammas and Hezbollah, Iraqi insurgents, Syria, Iran, North Korea, China, and Russia on this multi-faceted list. Russia’s Akula-IIs are very formidable SSNs -- her navy isn’t down and out for the count, as some people think. In late-breaking news, Russian Navy C-in-C Admiral Vladimir Kuroyedov just announced that next year he’ll put in service two modern SSBNs with brand new missiles, the Bulava-M. And China is hell-bent on acquiring a world-class blue water navy as soon as possible, including good nuclear subs.)

3. Signals interception intelligence gathering. Tapping of undersea fiber optic cables can only be done covertly via submarines -- but it can be done that way. In addition, because of peculiarities of radio propagation called surface ducting, a lurking sub can overhear message traffic to which airborne and satellite surveillance platforms may be deaf and blind. (This surface ducting phenomenon, usefully for us, is often prevalent near stubborn global hot-spots such as the Middle East and the Korean Peninsula.) The on-station dwell time of an SSN widely exceeds even that of a entire squadron of airborne drones -- plus the sub doesn’t violate enemy airspace, while drones risk detection by eyeball and being shot down with their wreckage recovered, creating a rather embarrassing diplomatic incident.

4. Fleet escort assignments. Carrier strike groups, and amphibious warfare strike groups, too, need dominant nuclear-powered undersea escorts, given state-of-the-art diesel subs with air-independent propulsion proliferating worldwide.

5. Commando infiltration and exfiltration. Shadow warriors need stealthy transport to and from their op area. In some cases, the ideal or only choice is to do this by submarine.

6. Conventional deterrence through stealthy power projection onto land. This mission is achieved by submarines being invisible but powerful long-endurance “platforms in being.” Their on-board weapons, Tactical Tomahawks, are fearsome things to know might be aimed your way.

7. Antisubmarine, anti-surface warship, and anti-commerce shipping intimidation or attack. The latest mod of Improved ADCAP Mark 48 torpedo, and American naval mines, are also fearsome weapons indeed. Deterrence (in item 6 too) morphs into warfighting quickly when “open fire” ROEs are received.

8. Minefield surveillance and other waterspace preparation for combined-arms endeavors. Special sonars, remote-controlled probes, and combat swimmers can locate, map, and disarm or destroy enemy mines, other physical obstacles to access, and hostile undersea sensors. This work is essential for friendly force-protection in any invasion -- and before an invasion might be required, it ensures the credibility of our deterrence threat.

New tools, new reach, new vitality: Another revolution in military affairs on the undersea front has resulted from a two-fold breakthrough in gadgetry. Some of this has to do with new (or replacement) classes of special-purpose submarines, and some of it pertains to “adjuvent vehicles” launched from any large-size sub. I’ll tackle the special purpose subs first. (I consider the class of highly advanced SSNs now in series production, the Virginias, to be the latest-generation fleet of fast attacks rather than special-purpose ships.)

1. USS Jimmy Carter. The third and final Seawolf-class vessel was modified with an extra hundred-foot-long hull section, devoted to classified and experimental equipment and techniques to help achieve the missions itemized in the previous section. This includes launch and retrieval of large-size remote-controlled or robotic unmanned undersea vehicles (see below), as well as extra space to transport and deploy special operations forces with all their equipment. (This modification in no way compromises Carter’s normal SSN availability.)

2. The Ohio-class SSGN conversions. The first four of the Trident ballistic missile subs are being altered to make different uses of their two-dozen very wide missile tubes. This includes putting into each tube a sleeve which can hold seven Tomahawks or other land-attack cruise missiles. Some tubes are also being tested and developed as “hangar space” for bigger adjuvent vehicles which can’t fit through a regular torpedo tube. The Ohio-class SSGNs are furthermore being modified to be able to carry a large number of special ops forces (up to one hundred men in an emergency) with all their equipment and ordnance. Each SSGN will be able to carry as an external load two pressure-proof dry deck shelters with undersea scooters or inflatable rafts, or two ASDS minisubs (see below), or one of each.

3. The ASDS minisub. Battery powered, this vehicle rides on the back of a host sub until it reaches the forward operating area. With eight to sixteen passengers, depending on how they’re equipped (plus a two-man minisub crew), the ASDS brings SEALs to the scene of intell-gathering or battle in a warm, dry shirtsleeves environment -- which greatly enhances their mission performance. Being only eight feet high on the outside, the ASDS can penetrate into very shallow water, aka the enemy’s littorals.

4. Off-board mine reconnaissance systems. This series of torpedo-tube launched, recoverable and reusable probes began with the Near-Term Mine Reconnaissance System (NMRS), to be replaced by the more flexible and capable BLQ-11 Long-Term Mine Reconnaissance System (LMRS). An improved version of the LMRS, the Mission-Reconfigurable LMRS, will be even more task-adaptable due to easily changeable plug-in module designs. These different unmanned or autonomous undersea vehicles (UUVs and AUVs) are controlled either by wire or fiber-optic link, or by radio or covert acoustic link. They can operate for many hours, up to one hundred miles away from the host sub, roundly speaking. Their sonars, cameras, and other sensors locate mines, hydrophone grids, other waterspace threats, and gather hydrographic data.

5. Unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) and unmanned combat aerial vehicles (UCAVs). SSNs have already demonstrated the ability to control airborne drones launched from a surface ship or a land base. UAVs and even UCAVs that submarines can launch by themselves are under development. This is particularly important in a threat-rich environment where surface ships are overly endangered, and no friendly land bases are within range.

6. Unmanned combat undersea vehicles (UCUVs). The manned ASDS minisub is unarmed. But the Navy and defense contractors are looking at concepts for an unmanned undersea vehicle equipped with weapons -- mines or small torpedoes, for instance. Were a parent SSN equipped with one or more UCUVs, it would be able to reach all the way to the enemy surf zone, and also engage a hostile diesel boat or wolf pack -- deterring or destroying it with maximum firepower and the lowest risk of counterattack.

7. Active anti-torpedo defenses. Several approaches are under investigation to allow a sub to directly attack an inbound torpedo. One method, which relies on an SSN’s huge reserve of electrical power (thanks to its nuclear reactor), would use a pressure-pulse generator borne on the hull. A burst from this pulse generator would smash the torpedo at a safe stand-off distance. Another method is to “shoot down” the enemy torpedo with electromagnetic rail-gun darts. A Navy laboratory has succeeded in firing a metal dart at greater than the speed of sound in water (roughly one mile per second). An advantage of this is that the enemy can’t tell the supersonic dart is coming until it’s too late. A third approach is to use underwater rockets, proximity fused or command controlled to fire a “shotgun blast” of depleted uranium pellets to achieve a kinetic kill against the approaching weapon. While a great deal of money and R&D is needed before one of these systems is fielded, a new epoch is approaching in which an SSN, SSGN, or SSBN will have much more aggressive choices when it comes to defeating inbound torpedoes -- and then hunting down the vessel that fired them. (We should beware, however, that all military tech inevitably proliferates, and the same tools will eventually be available to our foes.)

Conclusion: It ought to be clear by now that evolution of submarine mission concepts and gadgetry go hand in hand; they always work best when they’re needs-driven as opposed to cost-driven; and breakthroughs amounting to revolutions have been a recurring part of Silent Service history from the beginning -- and they still are today. Controversy and debate are nothing new, either, yet these versatile undersea warships remain indispensable. Anyone tempted to write an obituary for America’s nuclear submarine fleet is very premature and quite misguided.

JoeBuff.Com / Joe Buff Inc. Joe Buff, President Dutchess County, New York E-Mail readermail@JoeBuff.Com