Thursday, September 4, 2025

No, Sweethearts ...

 ... pointing out price tags absolutely doesn't explain REAL capability. And ASW IS an organic capability of any ship since 1960s with the exception of purpose-built ships such as small missile ships or aircraft carriers. 

NATO ally Norway is buying advanced warships from the UK in its biggest defense deal ever. NATO officials say the move will sharply strengthen its ability to hunt enemy submarines in the North Atlantic. The £10 billion ($13.5 billion) agreement for Type 26 frigates will tie Norway's navy more closely to Britain's, creating a combined fleet of 13 vessels designed for anti-submarine warfare. London says the ships will bolster NATO's presence in northern Europe as tensions with Russia rise. A NATO official, speaking on the condition of anonymity to discuss the allied military capabilities, said the deal provides Norway with "advanced capabilities" in anti-submarine warfare and "other critical missions in the maritime domain." The official said that this "contributes to the broader collective defense" of the alliance. Norway shares a relatively small border with Russia compared to its Nordic neighbor and newly minted NATO ally, Finland. However, the country has a long stretch of coastline well above the Arctic Circle with direct access to the strategic Norwegian and Barents seas.

Here is the catch--in case of (God forbid) real war these toys' combat balance will be counted in minutes, at best hours. 

The same goes for all NATO's surface fleets including their naval bases--they will be destroyed. ASW still remains a critical combat task for fleets anywhere, but if anyone thinks that Type 26 FFG with its Sea Ceptor air-defense is capable to avoid leakers from the salvo of P-800 Oniks, let alone 3M22 Zircon, or even 3M54 Kalibrs at terminal with their M=3 and violent anti-AD maneuvers--I have a bridge for sale. Cash only. 

Considering an extremely low level of the British military and the state of the shipbuilding industry, which at some point DID produce a magnificent Royal Navy, the only thing they are capable of is building of legacy platforms which are not survivable in the modern combat environment. I will remind you again, what the area of search for a single deployed pr. 885M Yasen-class SSGN armed respectively with P-880 Oniks, 3M22 and 3M22M Zircons looks like. 

Ah, yes--another thing: without the US' ISR capabilities which would provide targeting in the first hours of the conflict (after that they will be shot down or suppressed), Russia will be able to continue providing reliable targeting globally, which allows the use of the weapons at their maximum range. Did I mention that NATO's AD technology is pathetic? Yes, that--proven empirically on very many occasions. 

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