re: Latest Updates: Russia-Ukraine Conflict

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They don't have the ultra low frequency communication system any more?

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We used to track them by propeller noise, a good AW could listen to the propeller signature and tell you what it was.

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Ultra low frequency

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It works but it’s ultra slow. If there’s a complicated situational message to be sent it won’t arrive. If our sub forces are literally sitting on orders that “if we transmit the letter Z on ULF, unleash hell” than ULF works fine.

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It works but it’s ultra slow. If there’s a complicated situational message to be sent it won’t arrive. If our sub forces are literally sitting on orders that “if we transmit the letter Z on ULF, unleash hell” than ULF works fine.

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I was a radioman on a fast attack. Never received a real ULF or VLF. Just test messages. I can confirm what Illini says about baud rates. It was my understanding VLF/ULF messages were simply to tell us to get our asses to periscope depth and receive an urgent message via SSIXS (UHF)

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Never received a real ULF or VLF

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September 11th, 2001 we had one off the coast of Pearl.

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You’d have thought old Putin “The Pooter” would have gone after Kazahkstan or Uzbekistan as his first acquisition into the New Russian Empire. They speak Russian but at least they look a bit different.

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He already has those. They're vassal states so he gets to reap the benefits without actually having to pay for their upkeep. He would have been fine with the same arrangement in Ukraine but they wouldn't go along with it.

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Does he though? Kazakhstan told him to kick rocks in Ukraine just after he helped them quell rebellion, have made it clear they want to be open for business to the west, and have at least verbally separated themselves from Putin to do so.

These photos are going around as the Moskva on the morning of April 15 (a discrepancy given ship was supposed to have sunk on the 14th). The source (OSINT technical) can't verify it, but it's a Slava class cruiser. If this is it, it made it well into the morning (was hit at about 1 AM).

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Even if we managed an astounding 99% interception rate we'd still be screwed...

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Russian land based ICBMs carry 10 warheads which is why there are less than 200 of them. It would take roughly 30 minutes for one to reach the USA. Which means it would have to pass multiple layers of missile defense. So the USA is safe. Europe might be screwed.

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most Russian ICBMs carry multiple warheads after all.

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Yes but those missiles have to reach space and begin their descent back to earth before the MERVs separate. That in why ABMs are designed to intercept the the missile before it reaches space.

In other news, the Ukrainians are starting a counter-attack in the Donbas today, heading east from Kharkiv to try to cut the supply lines from Belgorod, Russia to the Russian front around Izium. The Russians are trying to advance that front to entrap the Ukrainians holding the lines in Donetsk/Lunhansk.

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The US is actually running low with 51 attack subs vs the fleet requirements of about 65 at the moment (based on needing to monitor both Russia and China, and allow for training and maintenance of our own fleet.) This stems from Clinton era budget cuts eliminating most of the Seawolf budget.

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The US has 51 attack subs. The UK has 6 and the French have 6. That is plenty of subs to keep an eye on the 9 active Russian boomers.

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I would think a nuclear attack on eastern Ukraine would have a good chance of wafting radioactive fallout east into Russia. Not that Putin would necssarily care.

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Unfortunately they seem to be right down his alley. From Wikipedia...

A tactical nuclear weapon (TNW) or non-strategic nuclear weapon[1] is a nuclear weapon which is designed to be used on a battlefield in military situations, mostly with friendly forces in proximity and perhaps even on contested friendly territory. Generally smaller in explosive power, they are defined in contrast to strategic nuclear weapons, which are designed mostly to be targeted at the enemy interior away from the war front against military bases, cities, towns, arms industries, and other hardened or larger-area targets to damage the enemy's ability to wage war.

Wikipedia LINK