Two Submarine Mysteries: Each Not Telling (Yet)

Molten Eagle:  "Submarines are always silent and strange." 

 

MYSTERY #  1 (Enduring)

Background

"Top Secret Data on India’s New Stealth Attack Submarine Leaked ... French defense contractor DCNS suffered a massive leak of secret documents."  click here for a few details revealed by those leaked documents

(AUGUST 24, 2016) India's Defense Minister Manohar Parrikar seeks submarine data leak report, navy says no need for alarm.  

"The navy also made it clear that the leak did not take place in India. The data, which comprises over 22,000 pages, was leaked, the Australian media reported. It contained documents on the Scorpene submarines, designed by French company DCNS and being built in India by the Mazagaon Dock Limited in Mumbai (Maharashtra) at a cost of around $3.5 billion. The news created ripples in India soon after the report in the Australian media came out."

 (AUGUST 25, 2016)  France and India Claim Submarine Data Leak Is No Big Security Problem
 
"France and India on Thursday played down the security risk posed by leaked data on French-designed submarines that a source told Reuters was probably stolen by a French former employee and that has raised concerns over a $38 billion contract with Australia. More than 22,000 pages of data about six submarines that France's DCNS is building for India's navy looked to have been stolen in 2011 by a subcontractor who was fired while providing training in India, the source said."

(SEPTEMBER 3, 2016) Scorpene leak: India shelves plan to expand French submarine order after data breach

"Details of the Scorpene submarine were published in the Australian newspaper last month, triggering concerns that it had become vulnerable even before it was ready to enter service." 

M.E.'s Rhetorical question: Which nation is responsible for the submarine data leak (Australia, France, India, none of the foregoing)?

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MYSTERY #  2 (Enduring SSBNs; Temporary SSNs)

Background

"US Naval think tank: The US needs more submarines and smaller aircraft carriers" 

(FEBRUARY 10, 2017) Navy says more money needed to address submarine maintenance shortfall
"Five attack submarines could be decertified this year if Congress fails to provide more money to the Navy to address maintenance and readiness shortfalls, according to government officials.

The Navy did not immediately respond to a request for comment on which submarines are at risk of decertification."

M.E.'s Rhetorical questions (those serving aboard already know):  

• Which 5 U.S. submarines are at risk of "decertification"?  

• Is 5 actually the correct number?

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Submarines are always silent and strange.

What is Wrong with These Images?

PHOTO  1

Explanation (An Upset Condition masquerading as business as usual):  CVN 77 was ordered 15 years ago (26 January 2001) and it has been only 7 years since its commissioning (10 January 2009).  Would not a better ordnance staging and handling system have been provided?  Is it really necessary for our sailors to be mired in such clutter aboard a relatively new aircraft carrier unlike on our submarines?

MENTAL IMAGE  2

 Quotation:  "In short, submariners will no longer be as exceptional as before. They’ll have to learn new habits. They’ll be more like surface officers, forced to train for active defense and counterattack for survival rather than trusting to invisibility. They’ll have to be more like aviators, operating squadrons of offboard craft to extend their combat reach. And subs will no longer be loners, sent forth to do great things in independent operations. In short, not just a technological but a cultural revolution is afoot." - James Holmes, Professor of Strategy U.S. Naval War College, February 16, 2017, The National Interest,  "Is the Age of the Submarine Over?" 

Explanation (A long lead-time forecast masquerading as a near-term paradigm shift) : What has really been afoot is a grand naval deception designed to encourage exhorbitant enemy spending just to maintain yesteryear technologies while the U.S. widens advantages in the superior performance of tommorow's technologies and tactics.  

Submarines are always silent and strange.