US Navy News and updates

[FormerDirtDart]

Well, a number of naval careers have most likely "run into" a serious roadblock.
USN U.S. Pacific Fleet spokesman, Capt. Bill Clinton (no, really), stated USS Connecticut (SSN-22) "struck an object while submerged on the afternoon of Oct. 2, while operating in international waters in the Indo-Pacific region." There were no life-threatening injuries, the boat is in a safe & stable condition and that the nuclear plant and spaces were not affected while remaining fully operational. The extent of damage is not thoroughly known at this time and is still being assessed.

https://twitter.com/i/web/status/1446183628317278212

 

[John Fedup]

Well, a number of naval careers have most likely "run into" a serious roadblock.
USN U.S. Pacific Fleet spokesman, Capt. Bill Clinton (no, really), stated USS Connecticut (SSN-22) "struck an object while submerged on the afternoon of Oct. 2, while operating in international waters in the Indo-Pacific region." There were no life-threatening injuries, the boat is in a safe & stable condition and that the nuclear plant and spaces were not affected while remaining fully operational. The extent of damage is not thoroughly known at this time and is still being assessed.

https://twitter.com/i/web/status/1446183628317278212

I can imagine the good captain has been the butt of a few jokes. Should have made a point of using William instead of Bill.

 

[spoz]

Until we know what the « object » was, difficult to know. Conceivably, it could have been a container. Difficult to know how you could detect that other than active, which they would probably not have been using.

 

[Terran]

My bet is Chinese Sub. Modern take on that old classic of the Cold War days.

 

[ngatimozart]

My bet is Chinese Sub. Modern take on that old classic of the Cold War days.

Maybe, maybe not. We mere mortals will be the last to know.

 

[ASSAIL]

My bet is Chinese Sub. Modern take on that old classic of the Cold War days.

That’s not feasible given the sensors available to the command team.
Their whole raision d’être is to locate and track enemy subs.
If it is later proven that it was a sub then heads will roll.

 

[Terran]

That’s not feasible given the sensors available to the command team.
Their whole raision d’être is to locate and track enemy subs.
If it is later proven that it was a sub then heads will roll.

Multimillion ton ships don’t stop on a dime or turn like he hummer EV. Though official data indicates nuclear Chinese boats are fairly loud AIP boats are very quiet. The History of the Submarine navy is loaded with cases of “Bumps”, “Scrapes” and collisions.
I mean this is navigation by passive sonar trying to keep as quiet as possible well the other guy is also trying to do the same. If you ever read the book blind man’s bluff. It has multiple cases of Subs impacting another. Especially as one sub is driving forward unawares that another has fallen into its shadow and the first makes a sudden turn.

@Terran Be advised that ASSAIL is a BLUE TAG, a credentialed Defence Professional. He was also a mid level serving RAN officer with seagoing experience. WRT this particular topic he is a subject matter expert, so don't try coming the raw prawn with him.

Ngatimozart .

 

[ASSAIL]

I’m fully aware of most of the historical incidents involving mainly Russian but also Blue on Blue.
In these cases the boats have been aware of the others presence and although little is known about this specific incident PLA-N subs are not known for their stealth.
USS Connecticut is one of three Seawolf boats, the cream, so I doubt she would be vulnerable to a sub on sub incident.

 

[FormerDirtDart]

USS Connecticut has arrived in Gaum. Should just be a matter of time until someone grabs an image of the possible damage.
Article linked is from a Greensboro, NC paper, Stripes article behind a paywall for me, so went searching for anyone else reporting the arrival.
Damaged US sub in port after collision in South China Sea

https://twitter.com/i/web/status/1446515480844509189

 

[FormerDirtDart]

Hell of an image. Appears to be 6 x F/A-18, 4 x F-35B, 2 x F-35C
And all them boats ain't bad either.

https://twitter.com/i/web/status/1446935758883917841

 

[FormerDirtDart]

Hell of an image. Appears to be 6 x F/A-18, 4 x F-35B, 2 x F-35C
And all them boats ain't bad either.

https://twitter.com/i/web/status/1446935758883917841

US Fleet Forces Command's Facebook page has a slightly better image that capture both US carriers

And a great image of the aircraft formation from above

 

[StingrayOZ]

Wow the F-35C's look a lot fatter than the B's.
Great shots though.

 

[FormerDirtDart]

Wow the F-35C's look a lot fatter than the B's.
Great shots though.

Yeah, that extra 8 ft (or roughly 23%) additional wingspan seriously stands out.



(image courtesy of 6 year old Fort Worth Star-Telegram article)

Edit:
I've also been thinking that the 3 forward F/A-18s may be Super Hornets, while the 3 rear aircraft are regular Hornets. As the front 3 appear to be just a bit longer and wider with more wing area.

 

[ngatimozart]

The FBI have charged a veteran USN nuke sub engineer and his wife with espionage. The couple were caught trying to sell nuke sub design secrets to an unidentified foreign nation. He was working at the USN department for nuclear propulsion systems. The FBI nabbed him in a sting operation.

The couple had approached a foreign embassy providing them with some data as a teaser, and requesting US$100,000.00 for the full suite of information. A staff member from the embassy concerned contacted the appropriate US authorities and said to them that they had a problem. So the sting operation was launched.

US nuclear engineer charged with trying to sell secrets – DW – 10/10/2021

A US couple has been charged with trying to sell secret information relating to nuclear submarines. The FBI made the arrests during an undercover operation.

p.dw.com

 

[south]

Yeah, that extra 8 ft (or roughly 23%) additional wingspan seriously stands out.

View attachment 48587

(image courtesy of 6 year old Fort Worth Star-Telegram article)

Edit:
I've also been thinking that the 3 forward F/A-18s may be Super Hornets, while the 3 rear aircraft are regular Hornets. As the front 3 appear to be just a bit longer and wider with more wing area.

5x SH and 1x Growler (leader of second set of 3). Easiest way to tell they are SH from the overhead angle is from the enlarged LEX (plus the USN doesn’t operate classic anymore, except as aggressors) and the Growler is evident from the wingtip pods.

 

[John Fedup]

The FBI have charged a veteran USN nuke sub engineer and his wife with espionage. The couple were caught trying to sell nuke sub design secrets to an unidentified foreign nation. He was working at the USN department for nuclear propulsion systems. The FBI nabbed him in a sting operation.

The couple had approached a foreign embassy providing them with some data as a teaser, and requesting US$100,000.00 for the full suite of information. A staff member from the embassy concerned contacted the appropriate US authorities and said to them that they had a problem. So the sting operation was launched.

US nuclear engineer charged with trying to sell secrets – DW – 10/10/2021

A US couple has been charged with trying to sell secret information relating to nuclear submarines. The FBI made the arrests during an undercover operation.

p.dw.com

Now this is a story that potentially gives cause for concern wrt AUKUS. Can easily see American pollies using this line, “if our own people can’t be trusted just think how much worse it will be with foreigners knowing all our sub secrets”.

 

[spoz]

However, it’s interesting that apparently the embassy concerned alerted the FBI to the fact they had been approached. That suggests a friendly country rather than say Russia or China. I wonder who it was?

 

[ngatimozart]

However, it’s interesting that apparently the embassy concerned alerted the FBI to the fact they had been approached. That suggests a friendly country rather than say Russia or China. I wonder who it was?

Probably not the French Japanese, South Korean, Israeli? - hmm maybe not because they would've kept the data. In their case that would be to good a source. Germany. Norway, Sweden, Dutch. Australian.

 

[Redlands18]

Probably not the French Japanese, South Korean, Israeli? - hmm maybe not because they would've kept the data. In their case that would be to good a source. Germany. Norway, Sweden, Dutch. Australian.

Surely they where not stupid enough to go to a NATO or ANZUS ally.

 

[DDG38]

Now this is a story that potentially gives cause for concern wrt AUKUS. Can easily see American pollies using this line, “if our own people can’t be trusted just think how much worse it will be with foreigners knowing all our sub secrets”.

All 3 members of AUKUS are also within the 5EYEs alliance with has been dealing with this issue for decades. You only hear about the more public (and stupid) spies getting caught. There will be reviews naturally but there are good levels of trust when it comes to intelligence and security sharing networks which has been robustly setup between members.