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| China-Japan-Koreas | |
| S.Korean Navy Fails to Spot Nork Subs | |
| 2011-09-21 | |
South Korean patrol boats and corvettes are able to detect a mere 30 percent of submarines at a time when North Korea is increasing the frequency of submarine infiltration drills.
In the same period this year, North Korea raised the number of infiltration drills to 50. Infiltration exercises using semi-submersible craft also rose from 14 in the first eight months last year to 22 this year. The number of submarine exercises in the East Sea soared from 25 in the January-August period last year to 39 this year. This year's submarine exercises in the West Sea were reportedly concentrated between June and August. "There's a likelihood that the North will seek a chance for provocation as a lot of North Korean and Chinese fishing boats are busy in the West Sea during the blue crab harvest season" that began in early September, Shin said. But South Korean patrol boats and corvettes tasked with defending the coasts lack the capacity to detect subs. Some navy patrol boats including the one plying waters near Baeknyeong Island when the Navy corvette Cheonan was attacked in March last year failed to spot any enemy subs at all during an anti-sub exercise in August the same year. Corvettes of the Second Navy Fleet detected a mere 28 percent of the submarines taking part in exercises in the first quarter last year. "The military needs to step up vigilance around the northwesternmost islands until the blue crab season comes to an end," Shin said. "It needs extra surveillance equipment, including up-to-date destroyers that have excellent submarine detection capabilities." | |
| Posted by:Steve White |
| #6 a lot of North Korean and Chinese fishing boats are busy in the West Sea during the blue crab harvest season He ain't kidding. There are so many together, it looks like a land mass on radar. And at night with all the boats' lights, it looks like one of the coastal towns had drifted out to sea. If you wanted to move subs around, it's near-perfect. |
| Posted by: Pappy 2011-09-21 11:33 |
| #5 Given the limited area involved in the coastal waters in which most Nork submarines can operate, the SKor should invest in the equivalent of SOSUS, in this case, a combination of acoustic and magnetic detection. The latter is relatively cheap, just laying a grid of cables on the ocean floor, so that when a boat or ship passes over them, a tiny current is created. And then your navy holds a depth charge training exercise. The acoustics would be for deeper water subs, but still gives your swabs all that great training. |
| Posted by: Anonymoose 2011-09-21 09:16 |
| #4 Anyone remember the Russian/Nork remote sensing 'joint exercise' news we had a little while back? I wonder if it wasn't part of a ASW training effort. |
| Posted by: Skidmark 2011-09-21 05:25 |
| #3 Blaming it on Korean crabs. Do they have no shame? |
| Posted by: Besoeker 2011-09-21 02:40 |
| #2 See WORLD NEWS > [Examiner.com] SOUTH KOREAN MILITARY REPORT FAILS TO MENTION THAT NORTH KOREA TOWS ROCKETS WID FARM TRACTORS. Not military-grade stuff. |
| Posted by: JosephMendiola 2011-09-21 01:13 |
| #1 "submarine infiltration drills" Is that an unnecessarily diplomatic phrase for "invasion"? Is there a Navy of Steve's to address this? |
| Posted by: Halliburton - Mysterious Conspiracy Division 2011-09-21 00:03 |