stormtrooper
10-10-2003, 08:28 AM
THE navy's Collins class submarines have "sunk" the pride of the US nuclear sub fleet and warships from Singapore, and are now regarded as a lethal undersea force.
Americans were shocked by the Collins class submarines' performance.
At certain speeds they are virtually undetectable, according to the commander of the Submarine Group, Commodore Mike Deeks. "The Americans expect to hear us easily but we're not there," Commodore Deeks said. "It is hard for them to find us, but meanwhile, we have already found them."
The boats are still troubled by an unreliable combat system, but during a recent exercise against a US nuclear boat off WA and warships from Singapore off northern Australia, they were deadly.
They have been plagued by mechanical, structural, system and noise problems, but the crews have adapted and turned them into a deadly force.
According to one observer HMAS Rankin "sank" a Singaporean ship fitted with some of the most advanced anti-submarine warfare equipment.
And in the underwater exercise the Americans were shocked by its performance.
"We surprise them and they learn a lot about different ways of operating submarines," Commodore Deeks said. "The Americans pour billions into their subs but we are better at practical applications."
During the exercise, at a special undersea range off the WA coast, the Collins submarine was invisible to the Americans, who were caught off guard on several occasions.
The US boat was "sunk" by practice torpedoes fired by HMAS Waller.
The torpedoes, with dummy warheads and in built safety systems, pass over or under the "enemy" vessel and record a "hit" when they are later recovered on the surface.
Noise is crucial in undersea warfare and the early noise problems of the Collins boats have been fixed and crews know exactly how to operate the boats in near total silence.
"We are a lot better at avoiding noise and we know exactly what speed to make them a black hole in the water," Commodore Deeks said.
Stealth and an ability to operate in shallow water make the Collins fleet an ideal partner for the larger and faster deep water US nuclear boats.
The Collins boats will be fitted with a new combat system progressively from 2006.
"We are looking forward to it being fitted and it will be a nice improvement," Commodore Deeks said.
Despite the good news a question mark remains over the fate of the first boat, HMAS Collins, which has thousands of weld defects because of poor Swedish workmanship.
Those problems, plus some intellectual property issues, must be resolved before the Adelaide-based Australian Submarine Corporation can be sold.
Extracted from www.news.com.au
Americans were shocked by the Collins class submarines' performance.
At certain speeds they are virtually undetectable, according to the commander of the Submarine Group, Commodore Mike Deeks. "The Americans expect to hear us easily but we're not there," Commodore Deeks said. "It is hard for them to find us, but meanwhile, we have already found them."
The boats are still troubled by an unreliable combat system, but during a recent exercise against a US nuclear boat off WA and warships from Singapore off northern Australia, they were deadly.
They have been plagued by mechanical, structural, system and noise problems, but the crews have adapted and turned them into a deadly force.
According to one observer HMAS Rankin "sank" a Singaporean ship fitted with some of the most advanced anti-submarine warfare equipment.
And in the underwater exercise the Americans were shocked by its performance.
"We surprise them and they learn a lot about different ways of operating submarines," Commodore Deeks said. "The Americans pour billions into their subs but we are better at practical applications."
During the exercise, at a special undersea range off the WA coast, the Collins submarine was invisible to the Americans, who were caught off guard on several occasions.
The US boat was "sunk" by practice torpedoes fired by HMAS Waller.
The torpedoes, with dummy warheads and in built safety systems, pass over or under the "enemy" vessel and record a "hit" when they are later recovered on the surface.
Noise is crucial in undersea warfare and the early noise problems of the Collins boats have been fixed and crews know exactly how to operate the boats in near total silence.
"We are a lot better at avoiding noise and we know exactly what speed to make them a black hole in the water," Commodore Deeks said.
Stealth and an ability to operate in shallow water make the Collins fleet an ideal partner for the larger and faster deep water US nuclear boats.
The Collins boats will be fitted with a new combat system progressively from 2006.
"We are looking forward to it being fitted and it will be a nice improvement," Commodore Deeks said.
Despite the good news a question mark remains over the fate of the first boat, HMAS Collins, which has thousands of weld defects because of poor Swedish workmanship.
Those problems, plus some intellectual property issues, must be resolved before the Adelaide-based Australian Submarine Corporation can be sold.
Extracted from www.news.com.au