What you need to know: Designed in the 1990s, the Swedish Gotland-class submarine was revolutionary with its air-independent propulsion (AIP) technology, allowing it to remain submerged for weeks and operate with exceptional stealth.

-Equipped with features such as an X-shaped rudder and sonar-resistant hull materials, the submarine can maneuver close to the seabed and evade detection. In 2005, a Gotland-class submarine “sank” the USS Ronald Reagan during naval exercises by evading detection and putting themselves within firing range.

-This incident highlighted the vulnerability of expensive aircraft carriers to cheaper stealth submarines. The article argues that the U.S. Navy should reconsider its heavy investments in aircraft carriers and focus more on developing a fleet of manned and unmanned submarines, including AIP-powered models, to accommodate to modern paradigms of naval warfare.

How the Swedish Gotland-class submarine “sank” a US aircraft carrier

Designed in the 1990s, the Swedish Gotland-class submarine was a revolutionary design that continues to prove to be an innovative system, costing on average only $100 million per boat. It was the first submarine to operate Air independent propulsion (AIP). Essentially, the AIP gives these non-nuclear submarines greater capabilities, as they can remain submerged for weeks compared to older diesel-electric submarine designs.

These submarines, much cheaper than nuclear-powered submarines, are very stealthy and can even easily come within range of US aircraft carriers without being detected by the variety of defenses these carriers are equipped with.

A unique boat

The unique X-shaped rudder of the Gotland-class submarine also gives this submarine extraordinary maneuvering power. A Gotland-class submarine can even operate close to the seabed, which only enhances the submarine’s stealth as it helps reduce its acoustic signature.

In addition, the Swedes designed this boat with sonar resistant hull materials. It can also deflect magnetic anomaly detectors and other sonar systems, thanks to its onboard counter-detection systems.

These capabilities have given this little submarine the ability to pack quite a punch, especially when going up against more advanced systems, such as the aforementioned American aircraft carriers. The Gotland-class submarine has proven that it can to flow American aircraft carriers during an infamous naval exercise in 2005.

At the time, the USS Ronald Reagan was engaged in a wargame against a team comprising allied submarines, such as the Gotland class. The Gotland-class submarine evaded detection due to its unique stealth characteristics and AIP technology, and came within firing range of theRonald Reagan, and sank it.

Furthermore, the incident was not just an anomaly for the Gotland class. Like a scientist proving his theory to be true, the Swedish Navy repeated the event several times. Each time, the submarine evaded detection and came within firing range and, if this were a real war scenario, would have fired enough torpedoes to sink the carrier .

For Sweden, it was a moment to be proud of. They don’t have a big navy. And their budget is only a fraction of what other major powers, including the United States and Russia, spend on their navies. But the Swedes proved that the system they built could counter even the seemingly impressive might of the mighty U.S. Navy.

This was a wake-up call, or it should have been, for the U.S. Navy not to put all its strategic eggs in the carrier basket. We are told that this experience with the Gotland-class submarine was instructive for the U.S. Navy, which diligently ensured that countermeasures against AIP-powered submarines were instituted on their aircraft carriers.

A dangerous precedent

Yet Swedish capabilities demonstrated with their Gotland-class submarine that the new era of warfare would be asymmetrical and cheap, for the struggling power, versus the established power.

A single non-nuclear submarine can potentially sink a much more expensive aircraft carrier, the loss of which could fundamentally upend the entire strategic posture of the US Navy in a given region.

Indeed, a paradigm shift is underway in modern naval warfare and the Gotland-class submarine is its herald. Moreover, the US Navy’s experience in its failed attempt to defend its most important platforms against the cheaper Gotland-class submarine should prove that the way the US Navy planned to conduct the war in a quasi-equal conflict is completely false.

Rather than blow thirteen billion USD which the US military cannot afford to part with for vanity projects, like the Ford-class aircraft carrier, the Pentagon should wisely spend less money on building a fleet of manned submarines, including non-nuclear, AIP-powered, and unmanned. submersibles.

Suede exports versions of the Gotland-class submarine in Singapore, Denmark and Australia, according to the Nuclear Threat Initiative. Imagine if American competitors decided to start buying these systems, or simply copying them. No American naval air force would be safe.

Author Experience and Expertise: Brandon J. Weichert

Brandon J. Weicherta national security project of national interest analystis a former congressman and geopolitical analyst who contributes to The Washington Times, Asia Times, and The-Pipeline. He is the author of Winning Space: How America Remains a Superpower, Biohacked: China’s Race to Control Life, and The Shadow War: Iran’s Quest for Supremacy. His next book, A Disaster of Our Own Making: How the West Lost Ukraine, is due October 22 from Encounter Books. Weichert can be followed via Twitter @WeTheBrandon.

All images are Creative Commons or Shutterstock.

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