The United States Versus the Third World Submarine: Are We Ready

Abstract

The United States faces a serious problem with proliferation of highly capable state of the art submarines and submarine technology. The Maritime Strategy, developed primarily to advance the interests of the United States vis-a-vis the Soviet Union, is flexible enough to allow the Third World submarine challenge to be discounted. The United States needs to recognize that a problem exists and take action to diminish the threat. This study examines historical submarine usage and the capabilities of new generation diesel- electric submarines to provide the reader with an appreciation for the types of situations that may present themselves in the future. With a rapid spread of submarines throughout the world, the United States will soon be involved in some type of crisis that requires a significant Anti-Submarine Warfare force. Unfortunately, the USN is not ready to fight in such a conflict. The Maritime Strategy needs to address this new threat. Submarine technology proliferation needs to stop. The USN needs to train, and train hard, for the certain eventuality that confronts us.

Open PDF

Document Details

Document Type
Technical Report
Publication Date
Feb 11, 1991
Accession Number
ADA236872

Entities

People

  • Clinton H. Cragg

Organizations

  • Naval War College

Tags

Communities of Interest

  • Ground and Sea Platforms

DTIC Thesaurus Topics

  • Aircrafts
  • Antisubmarine Warfare
  • Civil War
  • Intergovernmental Organizations
  • International Law
  • International Organizations
  • Naval Operations
  • Naval Warfare
  • Navy
  • Nuclear Powered Submarines
  • Submarine Warfare
  • Submarines
  • Surveillance
  • Undersea Warfare
  • United States
  • Ussr
  • War Colleges

Readers

  • East Asian Political and Security Studies within the Soviet Union
  • Economics
  • Marine Hydrodynamics