October 16, 2020

Soviet ASW Helicopter Tactics


 

"Jive" of Sub Brief gives a briefing on Soviet ASW Helicopter Tactics in the Youtube here https://youtu.be/eBxXIwJCjv4 and above.

The helicopters illustrated are Kamov Ka-25 Hormones especially designed for ASW. They carry a  dipping sonar and a light weight torpedo or 2).

Helicopters work more effectivey in concert with warships. See Submarine Matters' earlier post How can small ASW vessels find a Submarine? of October 9, 2020.

The warship and its helicopter can operate active and/or passive sonars. For example (a Harbin Z-9) can operate from a Chinese Type 056 corvette of around 1,500 tons. 

A rotary wing UAV eg. the VSR700, of 700kg max takeoff weight, with dipping sonar, might be able to operate off an even smaller vessel.

7 comments:

  1. Its clear that Hong Kong has now adopted a PRC-centric approach to Taiwan, with the island's Air Traffic Control recently warning a Taiwanese airliner on a weekly flight to the Pratas Islands that it's flight path was towards a 'danger zone', but no NOTAM was issued previously.
    https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/politics/article/3105930/hong-kong-blocks-taiwan-reaching-disputed-pratas-islands

    https://www.scmp.com/news/china/diplomacy/article/3105953/chinese-military-beefs-coastal-forces-it-prepares-possible

    ReplyDelete
  2. How does MAD effect airborne ASW tactics? Note that the Seahawks may be regaining
    their MAD capability soon:

    "This order provides non-recurring and recurring engineering support associated with
    software and hardware development for Phase I integration of the Digital Magnetic
    Anomaly Detection sensor into the MH-60R Seahawk helicopter."

    See:

    https://www.navyrecognition.com/index.php/news/defence-news/2020/september/8979-lockheed-martin-to-develop-digital-magnetic-anomaly-detection-sensor-into-the-mh-60r-seahawk-helicopter.html


    =========================


    Also note that some MAD systems may be deployed in UAVs:

    "U.S. military researchers are asking industry to develop a small unmanned aerial
    vehicle (UAV) equipped with a magnetic anomaly detector (MAD) that can deploy from the
    U.S. Navy P-8A Poseidon maritime patrol aircraft to detect and track enemy
    submarines."

    See:

    https://www.militaryaerospace.com/unmanned/article/14034795/antisubmarine-warfare-asw-uav-magnetic-anomaly-detector-mad

    ReplyDelete
  3. Hi Shawn C [at October 18, 2020 at 5:45 PM]

    Thanks. I didn't know the Pratas Islands existed until your references.

    So the reality of PRCs national security (military and intelligence) ownership of Hong Kong, that began in 1997, is now becoming more public.

    I wonder whether HK's major financial center status will suffer or PRC just doesn't care?

    If Trump style isolationism continues past November 3rd many more Taiwanese will want to immigrate to free countries before the PRC takeover.

    ReplyDelete
  4. Hi Anonymous [at October 19, 2020 at 8:35 AM]

    I was under the impression that the USN was less reliant of Magnetic Anomaly Detection (MAD) because of:
    - increased use of non-metallic materials in opposing submarine (especially in hulls) and
    - degaussing of metallic hulls

    For example the US P-8A don't have large MAD booms https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Boeing_P-8_Poseidon#Design_phase_and_testing

    while Indian P-8s (confusingly called "Neptunes" do have MAD booms. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Boeing_P-8_Poseidon#India

    But the article you point to https://www.navyrecognition.com/index.php/news/defence-news/2020/september/8979-lockheed-martin-to-develop-digital-magnetic-anomaly-detection-sensor-into-the-mh-60r-seahawk-helicopter.html

    may indicate the US wants to maintain a MAD detection capability via Seahawk helicopters and via UAVs (launched from US P-8s and probably from US surface ships). https://www.militaryaerospace.com/unmanned/article/14034795/antisubmarine-warfare-asw-uav-magnetic-anomaly-detector-mad

    Information on MAD tactics used might follow years of capability experience or may remain outside the public domain.

    ReplyDelete
  5. "I was under the impression that the USN was less reliant of Magnetic Anomaly Detection (MAD) because of:

    - increased use of non-metallic materials in opposing submarine (especially in hulls) and

    - degaussing of metallic hulls"


    As long as a submarine has an electric motor, won't it always have a magnetic
    signature, to one degree or another? Electric motors don't work without magnetism.

    ReplyDelete
  6. Anonymous

    I'm not saying ALL a sub's parts are devoid of metal.

    Re MAD - the initial thinking is about hull composition and detactibility.

    The biggest metallic item is the pressure hull.

    Diesel engines, motors and (for nuclear subs) reactors will always contain metals.

    Were you also aware that passive sonar (in mobile and fixed platforms) would be the initial and main detectors of engine functioning?

    Have you heard of more recent diesel fume "sniffing" technology on P-8s?

    Cheers

    ReplyDelete
  7. "Were you also aware that passive sonar (in mobile and fixed platforms) would be the initial and main detectors of engine functioning?"

    The collision between HMS Vanguard and Le Triomphant illustrates the difficulty of
    detecting a modern submarine at low speeds via passive sonar:

    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/HMS_Vanguard_and_Le_Triomphant_submarine_collision


    Since a modern AIP boat, or a boat with modern lithium batteries can go longer
    without snorkeling, that makes "sniffers" less useful.

    Hence the interest in bistatic sonars and the renewed interest in MAD.

    The current interest in detecting submarines using the "debye effect" might also explain the renewed interest in MAD. Can new MAD sensors detect submarines this
    way?:

    "Thanks to something called the Debye effect, it might be possible to hunt
    submarines using the magnetic signatures of their wakes. Seawater is salty, full of
    ions of sodium and chlorine. Because those ions have different masses, any nudge—
    such as a passing submarine—moves some farther than others. Each ion carries an
    electric charge, and the movement of those charges produces a magnetic field.

    The Debye effect has been known since 1933, but its effects were thought to be tiny.
    The American navy set out to explore it nonetheless in 2009, giving research grants
    to three firms to check whether it could be used for submarine detection. One,
    Cortana Corporation of Falls Church, Virginia, found a significant effect. Cortana
    was given a second grant in 2011 to continue the work, which was expected to produce
    a sensor which could be deployed from a ship. Since then the navy has continued to
    award Cortana grants for hush-hush jobs."

    See:

    http://cdrsalamander.blogspot.com/2017/01/modern-submarines-too-quiet-dont-try-to.html

    ReplyDelete

You can comment :)