October 29, 2018
Question for the Navy: Is It Time to Build Stealth 'AIP' Submarines?
The United States has not built a diesel-electric submarine since 1959. Is it time for a change?
by Robert Farley Follow drfarls on Twitter L
All in all, there is no question that AIP-equipped boats pose a threat, under some conditions, to the large nuclear attack submarines that many great navies have come to rely on. However, this does not necessarily mean that the best response for the U.S. Navy is to invest in these conventional subs.
Over the past decade, air-independent propulsion (AIP) for submarines has spread rapidly around the world. The technology, which allows conventionally powered submarines to operate without access to outside air, has the potential the shift the balance away from the big nuclear attack submarines (SSNs) that have dominated undersea warfare since the 1950s, and back towards small conventional boats. In global terms, this might again make submarines the great strategic equalizer; small, cheap weapons that can destroy the expensive warships of the world’s most powerful navies. Does this mean that the United States should invest in these kinds of boats? Probably not.
https://nationalinterest.org/blog/buzz/question-navy-it-time-build-stealth-aip-submarines-34557
