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[color=#000000]HDW unveils modular submarine concept
German submarine builder Howaldtswerke-Deutsche Werft (HDW) and hoistable mast supplier Gabler Maschinenbau have unveiled a concept to retrofit existing submarines with exchangeable mission modules, and to design new boats.
[Jane's International Defense Review - first posted to http://idr.janes.com - 21 October 2003]
They come unseen: special forces delivery from submarines
Late August 2003 saw the opening of a new chapter in the history of underwater special forces delivery, with a milestone event focused on the deployment of the US Navy's (USN's) first Expeditionary Strike Group (ESG).
Just one year after the ESG concept was originally envisioned, the seven ships of the first ESG left Hawaii on a scheduled eight-month deployment in support of the allied 'war on terror'. Among the platforms and capabilities deployed was the nuclear attack submarine (SSN) USS Greeneville, equipped with the capability to deploy the new Advanced SEAL [Sea, Air, Land] Delivery System (ASDS).
Submarines have long been recognised as an optimum platform for the clandestine deployment of special operations forces (SOF); the history of the Second World War is replete with stories of submarines that would quietly surface to deliver intelligence agents or raiding teams to combat theatres around the world. This delivery capability was further enhanced with special navy 'frogmen' who could exit the craft to conduct reconnaissance and combat missions without requiring the submarine to surface.
The second half of the 20th century saw significant improvement in these capabilities as systems such as the US Mk 6 Swimmer Delivery Vehicle (SDV) - a mini-sub developed around 1964 - began to enter naval inventories. The introduction of SDVs prior to the establishment of SEAL teams probably accounts for their dual identification as 'Swimmer Delivery Vehicles' and 'SEAL Delivery Vehicles'. Further technological and operational improvements led to a series of advances, as characterised in a number of additional systems such as those noted below.
Moreover, the late 20th century saw the growing global emphasis on joint service operations translate directly to joint service training for underwater SOF deployment. As an example, during a 1994 presentation on recent activities of the US Atlantic Fleet, Vice Adm George W Emery (then Commander Submarine Force, US Atlantic Fleet and Commander Submarines, Allied Command Atlantic) emphasised that "1993 was a busy year for the SSNs of the attack submarine force". Noting that 22 of the SSNs had conducted missions involving SOF personnel during 1993, he added]
German submarine builder Howaldtswerke-Deutsche Werft (HDW) and hoistable mast supplier Gabler Maschinenbau have unveiled a concept to retrofit existing submarines with exchangeable mission modules, and to design new boats.
[Jane's International Defense Review - first posted to http://idr.janes.com - 21 October 2003]
They come unseen: special forces delivery from submarines
Late August 2003 saw the opening of a new chapter in the history of underwater special forces delivery, with a milestone event focused on the deployment of the US Navy's (USN's) first Expeditionary Strike Group (ESG).
Just one year after the ESG concept was originally envisioned, the seven ships of the first ESG left Hawaii on a scheduled eight-month deployment in support of the allied 'war on terror'. Among the platforms and capabilities deployed was the nuclear attack submarine (SSN) USS Greeneville, equipped with the capability to deploy the new Advanced SEAL [Sea, Air, Land] Delivery System (ASDS).
Submarines have long been recognised as an optimum platform for the clandestine deployment of special operations forces (SOF); the history of the Second World War is replete with stories of submarines that would quietly surface to deliver intelligence agents or raiding teams to combat theatres around the world. This delivery capability was further enhanced with special navy 'frogmen' who could exit the craft to conduct reconnaissance and combat missions without requiring the submarine to surface.
The second half of the 20th century saw significant improvement in these capabilities as systems such as the US Mk 6 Swimmer Delivery Vehicle (SDV) - a mini-sub developed around 1964 - began to enter naval inventories. The introduction of SDVs prior to the establishment of SEAL teams probably accounts for their dual identification as 'Swimmer Delivery Vehicles' and 'SEAL Delivery Vehicles'. Further technological and operational improvements led to a series of advances, as characterised in a number of additional systems such as those noted below.
Moreover, the late 20th century saw the growing global emphasis on joint service operations translate directly to joint service training for underwater SOF deployment. As an example, during a 1994 presentation on recent activities of the US Atlantic Fleet, Vice Adm George W Emery (then Commander Submarine Force, US Atlantic Fleet and Commander Submarines, Allied Command Atlantic) emphasised that "1993 was a busy year for the SSNs of the attack submarine force". Noting that 22 of the SSNs had conducted missions involving SOF personnel during 1993, he added]