Russian submarine forces are operating secretly more often and more successfully than they have in decades, according to a senior U.S. general who acknowledged that American forces can’t always spot the undersea threats.
“We do — but not for 100% of the time,” Air Force Gen. Tod Wolters, the NATO supreme allied commander, replied when asked during a recent Senate hearing whether the U.S. military has “sufficient visibility” of the location of Russian submarines in the Atlantic Ocean.
“I don’t want whatever the missing percent is to be off the coast of Maine or New York,” Sen. Angus King, a Maine independent who caucuses with the Democrats, said during the House Armed Services Committee hearing.
Wolters, who also leads the U.S. military’s European Command, testified that Russian submarine activity has spiked even since last year, continuing a trend of Moscow’s efforts to project military power in the Atlantic Ocean. His reports dovetail with the U.S. Navy’s decision to revive the 2nd Fleet in light of Pentagon assessments that China and Russia have developed plans to threaten U.S. forces even in home ports along the east coast.
“We took note of the Russian undersea activity in the summer/fall of 2018 and compared it to what Russia executed in the summer of ’19, fall of ’19,” Wolters also testified. “And what we saw was a 50% increase in the number of resources in the undersea that Russia committed to both those out-of-area submarine patrol operations.”
Russian naval forces deployed 10 submarines into the north Atlantic in October, according to reports, including eight nuclear-powered vessels.
“The aim of the massive operation is to get as far out to the North Atlantic as possible without being discovered by NATO,” the Barents Observer reported at the time, citing Norwegian intelligence officials.
Those operations, along with the development of new weapons systems such as “quadcopters,” have contributed to the U.S. military’s belief that American forces shouldn’t get too comfortable, even at home.
“Our new reality is that when our sailors toss lines over and set sail, they can expect to be operating in a contested space once they leave Norfolk,” Vice Adm. Andrew “Woody” Lewis said earlier this month. “We are seeing an ever-increasing number of Russian submarines deploy in the Atlantic. And these submarines are more capable than ever, deploying for longer periods of time with more lethal weapons systems.”
Russian forces have irritated American commanders with several “unsafe and unprofessional” approaches to U.S. ships, but those maneuvers at least did not take place during the latest surge.
“What we also witnessed was an improved degree of good order and discipline on behalf of the Russian sailors,” Wolters said. “So this — this observation is one more reflection about how important it is to continue to improve our competitive edge to buy down the risk to ensure that we can operate with freedom.”
