Russian Khabarovsk-class Submarine
The Russians leak these ‘developments’ of new torpedoes and new systems from time to time. The Khabarovsk looks like a do-over of the Soviet Victor III-class submarine. In 1976, while the United States was celebrating its bicentennial, the Soviet Union launched the first of its Project 671RTM/RTMK Shchuka (pike) nuclear-powered submarines at the Admiralty Shipyard in Leningrad (now Sankt Petersburg). It was a further development of the previous Project 671RT Syomga, (Sigma), known in the West as the Victor II class.
In addition to being quieter and faster, the Victor III-class was equipped with two 650-millimeter and four 533-millimeter torpedo tubes, making it a multipurpose submarine capable of targeting larger surface vessels as well as conducting ASW operations. The boats could carry a variety of weapons, including SS-N-21 or SS-N-15 missiles and Type 53 torpedoes for the smaller tubers, while the larger two tubes could launch SS-N-16 missiles and Type 65 torpedoes. In total, 24 tube-launched weapons or 36 mines could be carried on board. Propulsion for the boats was provided by two VM-4T nuclear reactors driving a single steam turbine, which generated 22.7 MW of power. The boats had one shaft, and while a single propeller was initially used, later Victor III-class boats were fitted with two propellers.
Back to Khabarovsk. It can be characterized as the back (stern) of a Borei-class ballistic missile submarine, and the front (bow) of the Belgorod, the first Poseidon-armed boat, kind of a hemorphadite design. The “new and deadly” Posidon torpedoes sound to me like re-worked Type 65 torpedoes (which were new 40 years ago). Russian officials have stated that a 65-76A modification of this torpedo is responsible for the 12 August 2000 explosion of the Russian submarine Kursk.
One would hope that they were able to get it right this time. The Type 65s were big torpedoes, 30′ long and a little over 2′ wide, with a long range. The Russian Poseidon torpedoes are said to be between 65′ and 80′ long. The Russian Poseidon (NATO: Kanyon) is an autonomous, nuclear-powered, and nuclear-armed unmanned underwater vehicle (UUV) designed as a “doomsday” strategic deterrent. Those of you who are familiar with Dr. Strangelove, the film, are familiar with the Russian yearning for a doomsday device. Some of this blog’s readers think that Vlad Putin is a monocle and a white cat away from being a villain in a James Bond thriller. (Xi is sort of a bumbling Dr. No) Sometimes torpedoes make a circular run…(by accident) it would be a bad deal for Russia if that happened to one of their nuclear-powered, nuclear warhead-tipped torpedoes – heading back for home.
The Russians have put all of their eggs into the submarine basket. Though they don’t commission many of them, they’re said to be effective. Whether these new nuclear-powered and armed drones measure up is anyone’s guess.
Bullet Points:
** Katie Hopkins shares my view on cruise ships. Your experience may be different. There’s a big industry that centers on the fact that they are popular with a lot of people.
** The US military base in Vilseck, Germany, generates about 650 million to 700 million euros in annual turnover, supports around 3,000 direct jobs, and is deeply tied to the town’s economy and community, Vilseck Mayor Thorsten Gradler said, warning that a withdrawal of US troops would be a heavy blow.
** BUFF news – The B-52 CERP just cleared the full system Critical Design Review. It’s a complete integration package: 8 Rolls-Royce F130 turbofans per jet, redesigned struts, upgraded electrical generators, new cockpit displays, and all the supporting subsystems that go with it. Boeing is set to start modification work on the first test aircraft later this year at their San Antonio facility. Once that’s done, it heads to Edwards AFB for flight testing. Eventually, the whole fleet of 76 B-52Hs gets upgraded to the B-52J standard. (right) The B-52 will live to be 100 years old.
** Space aliens landed on Earth’s ocean, and they’re alive and well, hanging out, etc. One day, when the mother ship arrives, don’t be surprised, just say, “Yeah, I know all about them.”
** (City Journal) Petty Theft is the new moral high ground for young NYC elites. Piker: “I’m pro stealing from big corporations because they steal quite a bit more from their own workers.” Tolentino: It “is basically true, right, [that] every major grocery chain [steals] from workers and consumers.” Piker: “Wage theft is the most consequential amount of theft that takes place in the United States of America.” The participants never explain how they determine that prices and wages are confiscatory, or how to know when they are not. They show no understanding of the forces of supply and demand that set prices for goods, services, and labor. Nor do they grasp how difficult it is to build a business and survive in a competitive market, or the risks involved. Like self-righteous Western teenagers everywhere (that is, individuals enjoying the highest standard of living in human history), they simply assume that any successful business must be doing something immoral. Never mind that a firm can earn a profit only by meeting a customer demand or need.
The Enemy of my Enemy is my Friend
(Breitbart) Israel quietly deployed its Iron Dome air defense system along with dozens of IDF troops to the United Arab Emirates in the early days of the Iran conflict, according to reporting, marking the first operational use of the system outside Israel and the United States as Tehran unleashed a sustained and intense missile and drone barrage against the Gulf state. According to reports published Sunday by Axios and The Jerusalem Post, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu ordered the deployment early in the conflict following a call with UAE President Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, directing the Israel Defense Forces to send an Iron Dome battery, interceptors, and several dozen operators to help defend the country as Iran escalated its attacks across the region.
Iran’s barrage on the UAE was among the most intense of the conflict, with more than 550 ballistic and cruise missiles and over 2,200 drones launched at the country — more than at any other nation, including Israel — with numerous strikes hitting civilian infrastructure, residential areas, and economic hubs in what analysts say reflects Tehran’s effort to pressure U.S.-aligned regional partners.
While the presence of Israeli troops in the Gulf could traditionally carry political sensitivity, Emirati officials said the scale of Iran’s attacks shifted public perception, with one official noting that any country helping defend the UAE is now viewed positively.
Tareq al-Otaiba, a former official at the UAE’s National Security Council, wrote that Israel was among the countries that “stepped up to provide real assistance to the UAE,” adding that “the United States and Israel have proved to be true allies by offering support through extensive military aid, intelligence sharing, and diplomatic backing.”
“We are not going to forget it,” a senior Emirati official said of the assistance.
File it under unintended consequences. Now the UAE has unshackled itself from OPEC.
Identify the Boat
1
2
Identify the AFV
3
60 built
Identify the Aircraft
4
Maybe a tough ID – never went into full production.
End
Identify the Boat
1 – Russian Borei-class Project 955/955A
2 – Russian Oscar II K-329 Belgorod
Identify the AFV
3 – French EBRC Jaguar,
4 – Alekseyev I-218
Exactly, good work. The I-218 (correctly identified) was a twin-boom fuselage airframe with a counterrotating pusher prop. The I-216 and related developmental aircraft were twin-engine (engines on the wings) ground attack aircraft.
Identify the Boat:
1. Indian Arihant-class SSBN, perhaps INS Aridhaman
2. Oscar II-class
Identify the AFV:
3. EBRC Jaguar
Identify the Aircraft:
4. Alekseyev I-220
1 – Note Russian naval crest on the fin. (we call it the conning tower)
In the late 1980s I spent a bit of time working on sonar workstations that did onshore processing of sonar patrol tapes to study passive acoustic signatures. The chiefs that we worked with seemed to offer some respect for the V3 performance as well as the emerging Akula (NATO designation) class. I changed jobs in 1990 and did not track sub evolutions after that. I’m not sure how the Toshiba milling machine sale may have been an impact on all that.
Everybody uses pump jets now.
Okay, I want to know who paid for the grant for some PhD candidate to study octopus brain activity to determine whether they have dreams. Thing is, what types of dreams? They don’t specify. Come one, that is critical to knowing where they came from. For all we know the heptapods in Arrival were really here to check in with the octo-family beachside cousins, who apparently like playing underwater board games. Who knew.
***
With this multi-faceted warring going on between a bunch of egomaniacs on one side of the planet, and the ‘conflict’ going on in another part of the world because they hate the Jews for whatever asinine reasoning, it appears – to me – that PDJT has the nutjobs, throwbacks, and dictatorial blowhards exactly where he wants them. The geopolitical landscape is changing quickly with him at the helm, and if seeing over the horizon is possible with this, it appears the tumbler pieces are falling into place despite the subversives who are literally advocating for our enemies. (a pox on their corrupt delusional houses) certainly there will always be some demented maniac who demands ‘X’ [take your pick], but an enlightened and more peaceful society requires a few historical eggs be broken. Problem is, it is apparent the brainwashing in colleges has been heavy because I see too many who are clueless this is a necessary step to heir demand for ‘world peace’ and ‘coexist’ bumper stickers on their Subarus. Or, the likes of The Bern, a true Communist who should be deported for cozying up to China in his latest subversive stunt.
May God allow this needed change to occur in spades…and stick.
Amen.
“The Enemy of my Enemy is my Friend”
I’ve been given to understand that the effort at détente between Israel and the UAE has been going on for quite some time now. I also understand that this effort was very nearly neutralized when the UAE imported (allowed to enter) some Muslims from the “border” areas
Historically there was a relationship between Israel and Iran/Persia. That’s gone at the moment (obv) but maybe not forever. As to the UAE – yes there have been those issues but I think that’s in the past.
** Space aliens landed on Earth’s oceans
They are taking their time as octopus fossils 320 million years old have been found and classified.
Don’t rush them. They are not rushing you.
And, of course, being boneless, it’s hard for ancient octopi to become fossils. Right up there with flatworms and other invertebrates, that also, curiously, don’t make good fossils easily.
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Then there are the horseshoe crabs, who also have blue blood. It’s not unknown amongst early sea animals to have blue blood.
The crowned heads of Europe are also said to have ‘blue blood’ – and as enticing as it would be to bleed them and see for oneself, we have to hope that it’s a metaphor. (joking)
The proof that octopi and squid are of terrestrial origin is we can eat them. Short of some poison or venom, they are wholly edible, if one really wants to that is.
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One of the big things about ‘life on other planets’ is that if it is indeed ‘life on other planets’ there’s a good chance that the biology isn’t completely or partially undigestible if not poisonous or just totally bad, due to different genetics.
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It’s the joy of living on Earth. Everything shares pretty much the same bases of biology. Genes passed down from the original plants and animals still exist in modern plants and animals. Which means we can pretty much eat them. Isaac Asimov even wrote a story about some dude creating a time machine and bringing back some small chicken-like dinosaurs. Of which he bred and raised for food.
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Alien stuff? Eh, better check it for toxic substances and compatibility with Earh biology.
US military bases in Europe: back in the days of news magazines there was a political cartoon featuring a couple having a sumptuous meal. On one wall, in a small enclosure, was a US soldier all scrunched up to fit inside the small space. On the glass door to the enclosure it read “Break Glass In Case Of Emergency”. If Europe keeps electing people who treat the US as unwelcome I won’t feel very sorry for them if the US takes their money elsewhere.
We are definitely unappreciated in most parts of Europe.
Buh-BYE!
Every Euro-Base closure has caused a corresponding hit in the local economy. Then again, every base closed in the US has also, curiously, caused a major hit in the local economy.
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But the Euros only care about their economy. They laugh when our economy is in trouble. Meanwhile they’re the grasshoppers living off of us US of Ants.
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Screw the Euros. Move the troops and equipment and stuff back to the US and reactivate some of those closed bases. US troops for the US of A.
X2
X3.
The thought of being a “tripwire” never appealed to me, and now a tripwire for what?
Them to surrender?
I think we’ve proved that we can deploy pretty rapidly from here these days.
Tripwire=Bullet Sponge
I should do so well when I hit 100.
Was reminded of this, and the final thought of “It’ll never happen again like that.”:
‘May 08, 1945 — Two million people gathered in Times Square to celebrate the end of World War II’ (or ‘11’ for one particular illegal immigrant who went to a Minnesota Learing Center and ended up in Congress).
There is no rule that your IQ has to be higher than the temperature of ice water to serve in the legislature. Though that thought is racist to some.
Under the current crop infesting…err…inhabiting…the place I suspect water and goldfish are far superior.