Russian submarine activity has surged to levels not seen since the Cold War, the country’s chief naval officer said at a ceremony Friday.
Adm. Vladimir Korolyov told reporters Russian submarine crews spent 3,000 days on combat patrol, matching the pace of the former Soviet Union’s naval activity. Russia’s rising submarine activity has concerned U.S. naval officials since early 2015.
Commander of the U.S. 6th fleet Vice Admiral James Foggo III characterized Russia’s challenge to U.S. naval supremacy as “the fourth battle of the Atlantic,” in June 2016. Foggo compared Russia’s recent probing of U.S. anti-submarine defenses to the U.S. battle with Germany in World Wars 1 and 2, and US-Soviet submarine subterfuge during the Cold War. Foggo further noted Russia’s “national-security policy is aimed at challenging the United States and its NATO allies and partners.”
“We’re back to the great powers competition,” chief of naval operations Adm. John Richardson told The New York Times in 2016. The navy cites Russian increased submarine activity in its need for increased funding and fleet modernization.
“We’re lacking submarines, and we’re going to build new submarines, but the price is too high, so I’m cutting the prices way down,” President Donald Trump told Sean Hannity in January. Trump followed his declaration by including massive provisions of additional naval spending in his 2018 budget proposal.
The budget proposal pledges to increase the size of the naval fleet from the current number of 275 to 350. The U.S. navy has previously requested 18 additional attack submarines to raise the size of the submarine fleet to nearly 70.
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