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Chinese Sub Pops Up Amid US Navy Exercise

Posted by ryuzaki0 on from the did-somebody-order-takeout dept.

One NATO figure said the effect was "as big a shock as the Russians launching Sputnik." American military chiefs have been left dumbstruck by an undetected Chinese submarine popping up at the heart of a recent Pacific exercise and close to the vast USS Kitty Hawk. By the time it surfaced, the 160ft Song Class diesel-electric attack submarine had sailed within viable range for launching torpedoes or missiles at the carrier. The incident caused consternation in the US Navy, which had no idea China's fast-growing submarine fleet had reached such a level of sophistication.

3 of 916 comments (clear)

  1. Re:Simple solution: by Wonko+the+Sane · · Score: 0, Redundant

    Submarine technology is actually way less relevant to the threats of the modern world than even freaking tanks.
    You might be ignorant of all possible uses of submarines.

    When was the last time we used a submarine to do any kind of warfare or political maneuvering? I'd say that ended in the cold war.
    A lot more recently than you think.
  2. Re:Drafting isn't egalitarian. by fractoid · · Score: 0, Redundant

    If I remember rightly, their plane DID fall apart midair. You have to cut a pilot a bit of slack for crashing when one of the wings falls off his plane.

    --
    Rampant carbon sequestration destroyed the Dinosaurs' tropical paradise. I'm here to help repair the damage.
  3. Re:Simple solution: by noc007 · · Score: 0, Redundant

    English is my native tongue, but I had to read over it a few times before I thought I got it. So here goes:

    "If you've been on one of her escorts and had to be plane guard for an aircraft carrier, you know her for a fickle wench out chasing a breeze."
    If one were to be the captain of a ship that's providing escort for the Kitty Hawk and given the duty of guarding her planes, one would know that it is a difficult job since the aircraft carrier is constantly changing heading and speed to help the pilots with safe take offs and landings.

    "Trading paint with 84,000 tons of US diplomacy underway going full-tilt-boogy is not going to be a career enhancer."
    Going up against an 84,000 tone US aircraft carrier, which is a persuasive deterrent against battles in it's own right, that's moving at full speed is not a good idea since it would probably result in death.

    "Not that this wipes the egg off the face of whoever was in charge of the escort screen [...]"
    If the theory that the Chinese sub surfaced out of fear of crashing into something because of unfamiliarity with the area were true, this still does not remove any embarrassment from the individual in charge of providing escort and supposed to be keeping non-US Navy vessels outside of the perimeter in the first place.