{"id":12803,"date":"2016-03-07T11:25:34","date_gmt":"2016-03-07T17:25:34","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/hcstx.org\/?p=12803"},"modified":"2016-03-07T11:25:34","modified_gmt":"2016-03-07T17:25:34","slug":"russian-subs-are-reheating-a-cold-war-chokepoint","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/thetacticalhermit.com\/index.php\/2016\/03\/07\/russian-subs-are-reheating-a-cold-war-chokepoint\/","title":{"rendered":"Russian Subs Are Reheating a Cold War Chokepoint"},"content":{"rendered":"
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\"boomer\"<\/p>\n

As the GIUK gap returns to importance, NATO must look to regenerate its anti-submarine force.<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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The recent U.S.<\/span> promise to fund upgrades to Iceland\u2019s military airfield at Keflavik is no diplomatic bone thrown to a small ally. The improvements will allow the U.S.<\/span> Navy\u2019s new P-8 Poseidon maritime patrol aircraft to keep an eye on Russia\u2019s increasingly active and capable submarine force in a region whose importance is rising with the tensions between Moscow and the West. In short, the Greenland-Iceland-UK<\/span> gap is\u00a0back.<\/p>\n

During the Cold War, the maritime choke points between Greenland, Iceland, and the UK<\/span> were key to the defense of Europe. This \u201cGIUK<\/span> gap\u201d represented the line that Soviet naval forces had to cross in order to reach the Atlantic and stop U.S.<\/span> forces heading across the sea to reinforce America\u2019s European allies. It was also the area that the Soviet Union\u2019s submarine-based nuclear forces would have to pass as they deployed for their nuclear strike missions. In response, the United States and its northern NATO<\/span>allies spent considerable time, money, and effort on bolstering anti-submarine warfare capabilities and intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance in the region. Maritime patrol aircraft from the UK<\/span>, Norway, and the U.S.<\/span>(Navy P-3s, flying from Keflavik) covered the area from above, while nuclear and conventional submarines lurked below the surface. The choke points were also monitored by an advanced network of underwater sensors installed to detect and track Soviet\u00a0submarines.<\/p>\n

But after the Cold War ended, the GIUK<\/span> gap disappeared fromNATO<\/span>\u2019s maritime mind. U.S.<\/span> forces left Iceland in 2006, and theUK<\/span>, facing budget pressures, retired its fleet of maritime patrol aircraft fleet in 2010. (The Netherlands did the same in 2003.) Anti-submarine warfare and the North Atlantic were hardly priorities for an Alliance embroiled in peacekeeping, counter-insurgency, and fighting pirates in far-flung Bosnia, Afghanistan, and the Horn of\u00a0Africa.<\/p>\n

But the term \u201cGIUK<\/span> gap\u201d is now heard again in NATO<\/span> circles (and sometimes as GIUK<\/span>-N gap, to signify the inclusion of the maritime domain around Norway), as it becomes increasingly apparent that Russia is pouring money into its naval forces in general, and its submarine fleet in particular. Moscow is introducing new classes of conventional and nuclear attack submarines, among them the Yasen class and the Kalina class, the latter of which is thought to include air-independent propulsion. AIP<\/span>, which considerably reduces the noise level of conventional submarines, was until recently seen only in Western navies\u2019 most capable conventional subs. Much of Russia\u2019s investment in its submarine force has been focused on its Northern Fleet, which is based in Murmansk and intended for operations in and around the Arctic, as well as the Atlantic. The Northern Fleet is also the home of Russia\u2019s submarine-based nuclear\u00a0deterrent.<\/p>\n

Read the Remainder at Defense One<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

As the GIUK gap returns to importance, NATO must look to regenerate its anti-submarine force. The recent U.S. promise to fund upgrades to Iceland\u2019s military airfield at Keflavik is no diplomatic bone thrown to a small ally. The improvements will allow the U.S. Navy\u2019s new P-8 Poseidon maritime patrol aircraft to keep an eye on…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_is_tweetstorm":false,"jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","enabled":false}}},"categories":[2280,2770,74,4479,4333,475,3563,4588,2426,4319,1894,4418,1898],"tags":[5236,5237,2779,5238,5239,5240],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/thetacticalhermit.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12803"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/thetacticalhermit.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/thetacticalhermit.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thetacticalhermit.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thetacticalhermit.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=12803"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/thetacticalhermit.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12803\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/thetacticalhermit.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=12803"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thetacticalhermit.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=12803"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thetacticalhermit.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=12803"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}