They failed to fulfill the orders, 'The Times wrote about the UK Navy's Astute submarine crew. They were supposed to launch cruise missiles at Syria from the eastern Mediterranean, but they failed to do it. All because they were 'locked in a “cat-and-mouse” pursuit by Russian submarines and warships'. They write about it like it's a hunt, where the UK submarines kept escaping, and the Russian ones kept following them. This doesn't go with London's statements about the brilliantly executed operation. We do have some fascinating details. The British had prepared for this attack for days, they were sure that their NPSs couldn't be detected. However, they failed to even enter the assigned location for the Tomahawk launch because they didn't detect Russian presence in that same sector. They simply missed it when one or even two 'Black Holes' moved towards them.
Ekaterina Grigorova will tell us what these 'Black Holes' were.
- It sounds dreadful, doesn't it?
- It does, and it also looks threatening because our submarines appear from nowhere. The Brits had the chance to see Russian submarines of the Varshavyanka 636.3 project with state-of-the-art modifications. These submarines beat their predecessors with their diesel-generator power, with their speed and their submerge endurance. They can attack enemy ships from long distances with cruise missiles, and, what's most important, is that these are the most silent submarines in the world. Just imagine, at a speed of 5 nautical knots, and at a distance of 1 meter, the noise level of the Varshavyanka 636.3 submarine is only 30 dB, which is similar to sea noise. Even I'm making more noise right now.
However, the Astute submarine that lost the 'cat-and-mouse' game is the pride of the UK Royal Navy. Its manufacturer boasts its construction that is more elaborate than that of a space shuttle. It's the largest and the most powerful UK submarine that can carry up to 36 torpedoes and Tomahawks, including the ones with nuclear warheads. But, even the cutting-edge technologies didn't help it detect surveillance in time or launch the missiles. British submarines, just like ours, can strike the enemy from underwater up to 50 m deep. But, this takes time, which Russian submariners didn't give their foreign colleagues. Even their significant speed advantage didn't help. The UK submarine crew tried to maneuver, not knowing where our submarine was.
Viktor Baranets, a military correspondent: "They did so many things in the Mediterranean: they maneuvered in figures-of-eight and six, they almost resorted to acrobatic tricks, just to get away from our diesel-powered electrical submarine. The UK MOD has admitted to The Times that this submarine was assigned to launch 20 cruise missiles. Those 20 British cruise missiles were never launched. Of course, we can now discuss that, perhaps, with this highly professional maneuver, the Russian Navy men have saved dozens or even hundreds of Syrians".
Our submarines didn't let the UK submarines get into firing position for 2 days. Varshavyanka kept popping up close by, and the UK submarines couldn't complete the launch. The thing is that, during the launch, the UK submarine would literally report their exact coordinates. In that case, not only the missiles could have been intercepted, but also its carrier. Russian submarines can remain invisible not just during surveillance, but during a chase, too.
However, we have to salute the crew's skills here. The thing is that any submarine leaves a so-called 'wake', when moving underwater. It's a stirred up water layer with an eddy current. This trace can be detected from a plane or from a satellite, unless an experienced crew covers the trace by constantly maneuvering. Besides, frequent trajectory changes won't let the chaser hide in a dead zone. This maneuver is often mentioned in American literature and movies as 'Crazy Ivan.'
An extract from a movie: "Attention, active sonar! We have a Crazy Ivan! Stop the engine. Everybody, quiet! Stop the engine. Everybody, quiet! What's going on, Jonesy? Russian Captains sometimes take a cast to check if they're being followed. It's called 'Crazy Ivan.' The only thing we can do is shut everything down and lie low".
The British had nothing else left to do when they bumped into well-prepared Russian sailors, except to lie low and stay silent.
- Thank you. That was Ekaterina Grigorova reporting about the 'Black Holes' that captured the UK submariners.
