Comments by "Tim Trewyn" (@timtrewyn453) on "Why America’s New Submarine is their Secret Weapon" video.

  1. For some time each SLBM submarine had a Blue crew and a Gold crew. The subs were reliable enough that they were ready to return to sea before a single crew would be ready to do so. So two crews ensured maximum time at sea for the SLBM sub itself. I don't know if that is still the practice.
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  2. I wonder if less costly sea drones and AI will make ASW much more potent than it is today. The ocean is a big place, but it is finite, and if the drones are numerous enough, the subs will find it harder to hide and with less time to launch their own attack. A drone sub could connect to a mother drone or ship for battery recharging, diagnostics, and repair and then return to its search program. If it finds something, then it surfaces and starts transmitting its data. It could deploy sonobuoys to maintain contact. Maybe a torpedo can take out the drone, but that can also telegraph the submarine operating area and attract other drones. The drone itself could have some kind of ASW weaponry. I don't think survival gets easier with time for these large, manned submarines.
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  3. I tend to think that all the Pentagon and other interested land-based parties know about a SLBM sub's location is that of a fairly large region of the ocean. The submarine's captain and navigation officers should have independent discretion as to their precise location in the region. In an emergency they have buoys to signal their location to rescue services.
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  4.  @thorwaldjohanson2526  It's big, but finite. Drones could be organized in lines that subs have to cross to get to and from their operating area. The drones do not have to cover every square mile.
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  5.  @icecold9511  True. Tenders would be needed. Some would be lost.
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  6.  @jakelilevjen9766  The Black Sea, a more manageable area, would be a place to start. Drones could make manned submarine operations perhaps too risky. Ukraine has a long-term interest in suppressing missile fire from Russian submarines.
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  7. @@aregeebee201 That's an argument for making them structurally long lasting and electronically modular. Like a B-52. Perhaps full coverage of the oceans is never economic, but reducing an opponent's flexibility has value. Proving SSBNs are clearly not in a set of particular places allows other systems to focus on where they may be.
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