Diplomacy & Crisis News

Mark Episkopos

Russian Navy, arctic

Corvettes from the Northern Fleet conducted drills with the Typhoon-class submarine Dmitri Donskoi.

Here's What You Need To Remember: Moscow has recommitted to ramping up its Arctic military activity in recent months, with Deputy Chairman of  the Security Council Dmitry Medvedev saying during an earlier session of Russia’s Arctic Commission that Russia “must continue its work on the strengthening of Arctic troops equipped with modern types of armament.”

The Onega and Naryan-Mar Grisha III- class corvettes launched torpedo attacks against a notional enemy’s submarine in the White Sea, according to the Northern Fleet’s press office. The Typhoon-class submarine Dmitry Donskoi played the role of the enemy vessel, the Northern Fleet specified. "The warships searched for the submarine using onboard sonars and launched a torpedo attack against it. The heavy nuclear-powered underwater cruiser Dmitry Donskoi operating at a depth of over 100 meters simulated the underwater enemy for the small anti-submarine warfare ships," read the press statement. The dummy torpedoes fired against Dmitry Donskoi were recovered and brought back to base following the exercises. The drills were staged out of the Northern Fleet’s Belomorskaya naval base, located in the Arkhangelsk region of northwestern Russia. The Northern Fleet is headquartered in the Murmansk region’s town of Severomorsk, not far off Russia’s state border with Finland.

The Grisha III class is a line of Soviet-built, dedicated anti-submarine corvettes, six of which are currently active in Russia’s Northern Fleet. The ships boast two RBU-6000 anti-submarine rocket launchers, carrying a total of ninety-six rockets, as well as two standard 533 torpedo tubes and a 9K33 “Osa” surface-to-air missile launcher. The Grisha class has been succeeded by the Steregushchiy corvette class, which is not specifically an anti-submarine vessel but offers a versatile enough armament loadout to serve in that role. The Paket-E/NK system of the latter provides what is an overall more effective solution against submarines, boasting anti-submarine MTT torpedoes with an operational range of up to 10,000 meters. Onega and Naryan-Mar are part of a naval task force that conducted artillery fire exercises against sea and air targets, as well as anti-submarine operations. It is unclear what other ships were included in this task force and how long this ongoing set of exercises will run.

Dmitri Donskoi is the sole remaining Typhoon-class nuclear-powered heavy ballistic missile submarine (SSBN). Laid down in 1976, it held—and by some measures, still retains—the title of the largest military submarine ever built. The Typhoon-class is being replaced by the newer and more capable Borei-class SSBNs, with Donskoi reportedly scheduled to serve through the mid-2020s.

These exercises follow a series of Russian bomber drills conducted earlier in 2021, which involved Tu-160 and Tu-95MS planes launching cruise missiles during a live-fire session at an Arctic firing range. The Northern Fleet announced that it will be hosting a new wave of drills this autumn, nominally aimed at protecting Russia’s Northern Sea Route. The route provides commercial ships in the Saint Petersburg area with a greatly expedited form of transit to East Asia through the Bering Sea.

Moscow has recommitted to ramping up its Arctic military activity in recent months, with Deputy Chairman of  the Security Council Dmitry Medvedev saying during an earlier session of Russia’s Arctic Commission that Russia “must continue its work on the strengthening of Arctic troops equipped with modern types of armament.”

Mark Episkopos is a national security reporter for The National Interest.

This piece first appeared in July 2021 and is being reprinted due to reader interest.

Image: Reuters.

Kris Osborn

Army, Americas

The Army wants to present multiple “dilemmas” for an enemy.

Why is the Army acquiring long-range Precision Strike Missile when the Navy can launch a Tomahawk land-attack missile from the ocean at land targets up to nine hundred miles away and Air Force bombers can fire air-launched cruise missiles against fortified ground targets at great distances? 

Recently, Army leaders have had to answer questions about the expense of new weapons systems. Its most senior members explained that it was crucial for the Army to have weapons systems that can complement or pick up missions for similar weapons systems employed by other services.

“When I look at the battlefield, whether it is potentially in Indo-PACOM or whether it is in Europe, there are going to be more than enough targets to shoot at for the whole joint force. All of us need to be looking at how we can bring long-range Precision Fires capabilities. It is not something that should be left to just one service,” Army Secretary Christine Wormuth told reporters, according to an Army transcript. 

Wormuth cited the complexities and interwoven, multi-domain challenges associated with the current global threat environment. She noted that commanders need multiple options when participating in joint operations. Perhaps a Navy submarine or ship might not be in a position to fire upon or reach a highly crucial enemy target such as inland air defenses. Perhaps advanced air defenses cannot prevent aircraft from flying within range to attack? What if sea and air assets are not in a position to reach a target that advancing armored forces need to see destroyed at safer stand-off distances? Or perhaps, as Wormuth suggested, there are simply so many targets emerging that not having long-range land-attack options could greatly imperil a mission.  Army Chief of Staff Gen. James McConville has noted that the military wants to present multiple “dilemmas” for an enemy.  

“When you think about us providing options, really what it’s about is providing options to the combatant commander. And so, if you think about it, he has capabilities from the air. He has capabilities from the sea,” McConville said, according to the Army transcript. “He has capabilities from the land. There are also capabilities from cyber—and all those present multiple dilemmas to our competitors, and it does not allow them to focus on one option when it comes to a future situation.” 

There is also the additional advantage of networking weapons systems, newer kinds of data-sharing technologies are increasingly able to connect weapons sensors and targeting systems to one another across otherwise disparate or unreachable nodes across an area of operations.  
 
Kris Osborn is the defense editor for the National Interest. Osborn previously served at the Pentagon as a Highly Qualified Expert with the Office of the Assistant Secretary of the Army—Acquisition, Logistics & Technology. Osborn has also worked as an anchor and on-air military specialist at national TV networks. He has appeared as a guest military expert on Fox News, MSNBC, The Military Channel, and The History Channel. He also has a Master’s Degree in Comparative Literature from Columbia University. 

Image: Reuters

Trevor Filseth

Infrastructure Bill,

Of the $1.2 trillion set aside in the bill, only around half amounts to new spending at all, so where does the rest of it go?

Following the passage of the “Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act,” President Joe Biden’s long-awaited bipartisan infrastructure bill, the United States will spend roughly $1.2 trillion on American infrastructure. The spending will be divided between improving physical infrastructure, including roads, bridges, and waterways, and “core infrastructure,” referring to necessary goods such as water, electricity, and internet access, each of which the government helps to procure.

In each category, the United States sorely needs additional infrastructure investment. The American Society of Civil Engineers, or ASCE, regularly grades America’s infrastructure network for durability, efficiency, and functionality; this year’s grade, issued in March 2021, was a C-, the highest grade that the U.S. had ever received (it is usually in the “D” range). Early estimates suggested that the problems with infrastructure would take at least $2.5 trillion in spending to fix.

Of the $1.2 trillion set aside in the bill, only around half amounts to new spending at all. In addition to investments in new infrastructure, the bill assumes the cost of maintenance on America’s existing infrastructure—a task that regularly costs the U.S. government billions of dollars per year. In total, the bill sets $284 billion aside for upkeep on existing conventional infrastructure, and $266 billion for upkeep on core infrastructure, according to CNBC. 

Of the money included within the appropriation, $40 billion of it is specifically devoted to bridge repair and maintenance, as well as the construction of new bridges. This number is included within the $110 billion set aside for concrete infrastructure in general, also including roads and highways—around twenty percent of which are crumbling or in danger of disrepair, according to the White House, in addition to 45,000 bridges nationwide.

Another major problem that the bill is concerned with combating is climate change, which Biden administration officials stressed could cause damage to existing infrastructure through severe weather events. Another $16 billion was also set aside for “megaprojects” existing outside the scope of normal funding programs. Nearly $40 billion is provided for public transit projects, which are perceived to sharply cut the consumption of fuel.

The Biden administration did not accompany the bill with a tax increase, claiming that the bill would pay for itself in a number of ways, including through increased efficiency. The Congressional Budget Office argued in turn that it would increase the national debt by $256 billion over the next decade.

Trevor Filseth is a current and foreign affairs writer for the National Interest.

Image: Reuters

Kris Osborn

Drones, World

This possibility seems, at very least, to be under consideration at the Pentagon due to both the pace and seriousness of the threat.

Here's What You Need to Remember: Simply put, when confronted by this kind of high-speed lethal attack, there simply may be no chance for a human to respond with any kind of decision.

What if waves of hundreds of autonomous, integrated artificial intelligence (AI)-capable mini-drones were closing in upon a forward Army unit, Air Force base or Navy ship at staggering speeds, presenting unprecedented complexity for defenders? Perhaps they are programmed with advanced algorithms such that they operate in close coordination with one another? Perhaps hundreds of them are themselves engineered as explosives to close in upon and explode on target?

Simply put, what happens when computerized swarms of enemy drone attacks exceed any human capacity to respond in time?

“When you have little drones operating in different patterns and formations, all talking to each other and staying in sync with one another...imagine that with the ability to create lethal effects on the battlefield. There is no human who will be able to keep up with that,” Gen. John Murray, Commanding General, Army Futures Command, told The National Interest in an interview.

Drone and hypersonics weapons defenses, among other things, are taking on new urgency among Pentagon technology experts who increasingly recognize the growing urgency with which high-speed, computer enabled attacks need to be defended.

Therefore, given this circumstance, the emerging question is clear: When it comes to increasingly autonomous and coordinated drone swarm attacks, is there a basis to employ advanced, super high-speed AI-enabled defensive systems to find, track, attack and destroy the drone swarm without needing human intervention?

“I think its a conversation we are going to have eventually. I think the conversation needs to be about when you’re talking about a decision that involves another human life. I think that is clearly in the human domain. But when you are talking about small swarming UAVs where there is not a human life involved… can we allow a machine to make the initial decision about which effectors are used or in what order defenses are employed to destroy the swarm with no loss of human life allowed?” Murray said.

This possibility seems, at very least, to be under consideration at the Pentagon due to both the pace and seriousness of the threat and the promise of AI-enabled autonomy regarding weapons systems.

The technological ability of a robotic platform to surveil, find, track, target and actually destroy a target without human intervention, is basically here. What does this mean for Pentagon futurists and war planners seeking to prepare for and anticipate enemy attacks and threats in coming years? Particularly when it is widely recognized that potential rivals are not likely to allow for or consider ethical questions related to the use of this kind of technology in warfare?

Of course, the Pentagon maintains strict adherence to its existing doctrine which specifies that, when it comes to the question of the potential use of “lethal force,” a human must always be “in-the-loop.” However, the prevailing consensus appears to be that, despite the disturbing reality that enemies may not share this kind of doctrinal approach grounded upon ethical considerations.

But what about non-lethal force? That is the question. Certainly, the pace, complexity and anticipated lethality of future attacks introduces new warfare dynamics of fast-increasing complexity for defenders. Think, for instance, about the pace of an approaching hypersonic missile attack at closer-in distances? Simply put, when confronted by this kind of high-speed lethal attack, there simply may be no chance for a human to respond with any kind of decision.

AI-capable drone defenses can already gather, pool, organize and analyze an otherwise disconnected array of threat variables, compare them against one another in relation to what kinds of defense responses might be optimal and make analytical determinations in a matter of milliseconds. As part of this, AI-empowered algorithms can analyze a host of details such as weapons range, atmospheric conditions, geographical factors and point of impact calculations, all in close relation to one another as part of an integrated picture, examine and compare what has worked in specific previous circumstances and scenarios to determine the best defensive response.

Murray’s thinking parallels current Department of Defense initiatives now taking up the question of defensive, non-lethal employment of autonomous weapons.

Given the short-term promise of this kind of technical capability, perhaps there may indeed be some tactical circumstances wherein it is both ethical and extremely advantageous to deploy autonomous systems able to track and intercept approaching threats in seconds, if not milliseconds. A recent Pentagon report says there is now an emerging area of discussion pertaining to the extent to which AI might enable “in-the-loop” or “out-of-the-loop” human decision making, particularly in light of threats such as drone swarms.

“When you’re starting to see swarming activities of hundreds or potentially thousands [of UAS] in the future, obviously you want your system to operate as fast [as possible] to provide those weaponeering solutions to the operator, or operate within a set of parameters,” Col. Marc E. Pelini, the division chief for capabilities and requirements within the Joint Counter-Unmanned Aircraft Systems Office, told reporters during a teleconference, according to a Pentagon report.

Kris Osborn is the defense editor for the National Interest. Osborn previously served at the Pentagon as a Highly Qualified Expert with the Office of the Assistant Secretary of the Army—Acquisition, Logistics & Technology. Osborn has also worked as an anchor and on-air military specialist at national TV networks. He has appeared as a guest military expert on Fox News, MSNBC, The Military Channel, and The History Channel. He also has a Masters Degree in Comparative Literature from Columbia University.

This article first appeared in March 2021 and is being reprinted for reader interest.

Image: Reuters.

Caleb Larson

Checkmate Stealth Fighter, Eurasia

Early reports indicated the stealth fighter would be an export—but it has found interests at home too.

Rostec, the Russian industrial conglomerate, confirmed that the Russian Defense Ministry is mulling the decision to acquire the new Checkmate stealth fighter. 

“They wanted to have some, of course. We recently discussed with the minister [of defense] that they need to come up with mission requirements stating what configuration they are looking for in the jet,” Rostec CEO Sergey Chemezov told reporters at the Dubai Airshow, according to Russian news organization TASS. “The configuration that we have made now was funded by us and the Russian Industry and Trade Ministry.” If confirmed, then the Russian Defense Ministry’s interest in the Checkmate would be a big wing for the fledgling fighter. 

Checkmate 

While stealthy, Russia’s newest stealth fighter appears to be a compromise design aimed at squeezing the most out of basic stealth features to produce an affordable baseline design. 

Like many stealth fighters, the Checkmate features stealth fuselage contouring and a nose chine. The fighter’s single-engine air intake forms a chin below the nose and appears to hide turbine blades from enemy radar. The airframe also makes use of ruddervators, which combine the rudder and elevator characteristics. The design offers radar fewer right angles and offers stealth advantages. 

Price Points 

And those features are reflected in the Checkmate’s price tag: an estimated $30 million. That is significantly less than the world’s most prolific stealth fighter, the F-35 fighter jet family, which can cost around $90 million apiece depending on the variant. 

The relatively low price point reflects the fighter’s export orientation, a fact reinforced by the media blitz surrounding the fighter before it was officially unveiled. Promotional material showed pilots from the Middle East, Latin America, India, and other countries, perhaps a marketing gag to pique interest for the fighter in those places. 

Build, Build, Build 

Sukhoi, the Russian aerospace firm behind the Checkmate design, is already building flight prototypes at United Aircraft Corporation’s manufacturing plant at Komsomolsk-on-Amur in Siberia, according to Aviation Week. Yuri Slyusar, UAC’s General Director, told reporters that “the plant at Komsomolsk has started to build a few prototypes for the starting batch.” 

This information about the Checkmate prototypes confirms that the Checkmate airframe display first unveiled at the MAKS Airshow was a static model and not a flight-worthy prototype, though the model could potentially be made flightworthy. 

Furthermore, the United Arab Emirates could end up being the first country to import the Checkmate. The UAE’s current fighter inventory includes American F-16 Fighting Falcons and French Mirage 2000s. 

Securing a first export customer would be a big win for the Checkmate program—a fresh cash injection could pave the way for broader export. 

Caleb Larson is a multimedia journalist and defense writer for the National Interest. He lives in Berlin and covers the intersection of conflict, security, and technology, focusing on American foreign policy, European security, and German society. 

Image: Reuters

Kyle Mizokami

M16, Americas

The M16 helped fill an important need for America's military after WWII.

Here's What You Need to Remember: The weapon which had garnered such glowing reports from American advisers and Vietnamese troops would fall victim to fatal, last-minute decisions and rumor that fueled bad choices at the troop level. The M16 rifle was headed into choppy waters.

The M16 rifle is one of the most iconic weapons of the post-World War II era. American fighting men have carried the M16 in one form or another into combat for more than fifty years, from Vietnam to the present day. The story of the original M16, whose descendants the M16A4 and M4 carbine today fight in Syria and Iraq against the Islamic State, goes all the way back to the 1950s and the institutional soul-searching that came after another war—Korea.

In the aftermath of the Korean War, the U.S. Army took stock of its small arms arsenal. The Army’s M1 carbine, M1 Garand rifle, Browning Automatic Rifle squad automatic weapon and machine guns were all some variation on .30 caliber. The Army needed a new rifle and carbine, ideally a single weapon, but the data suggested that the lighter, slower .30 caliber round of the M1 carbine was less useful than the .30 and .30-06 rounds used in other small arms.

At the same time, influential studies by Army ordnance engineers suggested that a soldier using a small caliber, high-velocity rifle of about .21 caliber would expect to kill 2.5 times more targets than with the M1 rifle. The average infantry engagement took place at 300 yards or less, and the average expert rifleman's marksmanship declined sharply beyond 100 yards. Therefore the utility of a heavier round requiring heavier bullets and a heavier recoil—but capable of killing targets at 500 yards—was questionable.

If the studies were true, a smaller, lighter round fired from a lighter rifle was the future. Although smaller, such a bullet would be more practical at realistic engagement ranges. Soldiers would find a small caliber weapon, with its lighter recoil, easier to shoot prompting them to shoot more often. Soldiers could also carry more of the lighter cartridges than the big .30-06 rounds of the M1 Garand.

The reports also suggested that a weapon that fired a slightly dispersed pattern of bullets—or projectiles—could compensate for near-misses on the battlefield. An infantryman might miss an enemy soldier's head by two inches, but if his weapon fired multiple projectiles that fell into a tight pattern around the aiming point, that infantryman might still hit his target. Hence, the armed services plowed considerable effort into exploring weapons that had multiple barrels, cartridges that held multiple bullets, and steel dart “flechettes” that could solve the dispersion problem, but after seven years the research bore no operational weapon. The simplest, most obvious way to achieve a slightly dispersed pattern was through burst fire from a small-caliber, high-velocity weapon.

Meanwhile, a new rifle design from the ArmaLite corporation was gaining a lot of attention. Developed by small arms designer Eugene Stoner, the AR-10 rifle was a lightweight rifle that fired the 7.62-millimeter NATO cartridge. The 7.62 cartridge (.308) was similar to but less powerful than the .308 Winchester hunting cartridge. The weapon featured a pistol grip, carrying handle, and loaded from a twenty-round magazine. The weapon used a novel gas operated, direct impingement design, in which gunpowder gasses were diverted via a tube to push the bolt carrier group, unlocking the bolt from the breech face and sending it rearward to eject the empty casing and chamber a fresh cartridge.

The AR-10 experienced considerable teething problems but the sleek, space-age design still had its backers. The AR-10 lost the competition for the next U.S. Army rifle to the T-44 rifle—later designated the M-14 battle rifle. Despite this, on May 1, 1957, ten days after the M-14 was chosen the U.S. Army ordered ten AR-15 rifles—virtually the same rifle but ported to the smaller .222 Remington round—for testing and evaluation.

The AR-15 design was purchased from Fairchild/Armalite in 1959 by legendary arms maker Colt. In the early 1960s, the AR-15 design was refined, the cartridge renamed .223 Remington, and the cocking lever relocated from the top of the rifle to behind the carry handle. Tests in Asia proved the lighter, smaller caliber weapon was popular with shorter-statured Asians, but buyers could not qualify for U.S. military aid funding because the U.S. military did not use the AR-15.

In 1962, the U.S. Air Force purchased 8,500 AR-15s, but the rapidly escalating situation in Vietnam saw many of these rifles diverted to arm South Vietnamese Army, as well as U.S. Navy SEALs and U.S. Special Forces operating in Vietnam. The encouraging feedback from these units, fighting enemies armed with the AK-47 assault rifle at close range, led the Army to a “one-time” purchase of 104,000 rifles, renamed the M16 and M16E1, in November 1963. The obvious advantages of the M16 over the larger, heavier M14 in Vietnam, as well as the large number of U.S. troops deployed to Southeast Asia, led to further purchases and eventually the M16 overtook the M14 completely.

A comparison between the M14 and M16 is illustrative. The M14 rifle weighed 9.32 pounds unloaded to the AR-15/M-16’s 6.35 pounds. An M14 rifle with 120 rounds loaded in magazines weighed 18.93 pounds, while the M16 weighed just 11.04 pounds. The M16 was also nearly six inches shorter. Furthermore, thanks to its smaller cartridge, the M16 in automatic fire mode produced shot groups half the size of the bigger rifle.

As U.S. forces streamed out of bases in the United States bound for Southeast Asia, few would have imagined the M16 rifle, which seemed to have such a rosy future, would encounter such controversy. The weapon which had garnered such glowing reports from American advisers and Vietnamese troops would fall victim to fatal, last-minute decisions and rumor that fueled bad choices at the troop level. The M16 rifle was headed into choppy waters.

Kyle Mizokami is a defense and national-security writer based in San Francisco who has appeared in the Diplomat, Foreign Policy, War is Boring and the Daily Beast. In 2009 he co-founded the defense and security blog Japan Security Watch. You can follow him on Twitter: @KyleMizokami.

This article first appeared several years ago and is being reprinted for reader interest.

Image: Reuters

Caleb Larson

Stealth Fighters, Americas

Speculation has run rampant.

Here's What You Need to Know: A California-based aerospace company recently put a mysterious new prototype up into the air.

The airframe in question, Scaled Composites’ Model 401 first flew in 2018, though details on what the prototype plane is intended for are scant. The plane, tentatively called the “Son of Ares,” is a single-engine design that uses the same engine that Cessna’s Citation business jet used.

Interestingly, the engine’s air intake forms an arched arrangement on top of the plane’s fuselage and can reportedly propel the plane up to Mach 0.6 speeds. It has a maximum altitude of 30,000 feet.

Stealthy?

Scaled Composites specializes in quickly getting unusual-looking and novel designs from the prototype stage into the air. One of their stated missions is to “demonstrate advanced, low-cost manufacturing techniques and to provide aircraft for research flight services to industry partners and the United States government.” With Washington as a customer, the question of stealth understandably comes up.

This could be a project that Scaled Composites is well prepared for. As the company name suggests, one of their specialties is manufacturing advanced airframes out of composite materials rather than the metals like aluminum or titanium that typically go into building airframes. Some composite materials also have the advantage of being harder to detect with radar. 

Indeed, the so-called Son of Ares appears to incorporate some low-observable features into its design. Perhaps the most prominent of these is the plane’s nose. The 401’s chined nose is reminiscent of the F-22 Raptor, which also features noticeable chines running from the nose into the body.

The 401 also has steeply swept wings that angle upwards. It’s been pointed out that this wing sweep and upward, or dihedral, angle might be to give pilots good horizontal visibility and an unobstructed view from both left and right sides. This may make sense considering potential belly-mounted payload or pods.

Testing, 1, 2, 3

A photographer managed to snap some photos of a pair of 401s flying over the Mojave Desert in Southern California. This time though, the 401s had some odd markings painted onto their fuselages. One of the airframes had a highly reflective type of material either painted or affixed to a patch below the cockpit on the plane’s left side. This mirror-like finish contrasted sharply with the other 401, which was painted matte grey, though it had several diamond-shaped patches of brown and a different shade of grey near the cockpit and tail.

Speculation has run rampant, though one of the more likely theories for the odd jet’s livery involves testing the Legion Pod, a relatively new infrared search and track system that Lockheed Martin developed. As of now, the system is compatible with F15C and F-16 aircraft. The mirror finish might be a way to test the Legion Pod’s capabilities, with the non-mirrored airframe acting as a control or baseline jet.

This is all still speculative. Stay tuned for more on the mysterious Son of Ares.

Caleb Larson is a defense writer with the National Interest. He holds a Master of Public Policy and covers U.S. and Russian security, European defense issues, and German politics and culture.

This article first appeared in June 2020.

Image: U.S. Air Force photo/Airman 1st Class Connor J. Marth

Adnan Nasser

Syria, Middle East

China is patiently playing a long game when it comes to improving relations with Syria and the Middle East as a whole.

As Damascus’ forces gradually recover more territory, with Idlib province being the last rebel stronghold, Syria is now entering a “postwar” phase. Yet while Syrian president Bashar al-Assad’s forces have prevailed on the battlefield, his victory has come at a heavy price. The ten-year Syrian Civil War has killed over half a million people and displaced at least another 6.6 million. Syria remains under robust international economic sanctions; its reconstruction is in a state of inertia.

Over time, the Syrian government managed to regain most of the country back, thanks to a compilation of pro-Assad military forces buttressed by Russia and Iran. However, the war is winding down and Syria’s economy is in dire need of rebuilding. Assad has said the nations that contributed to the defeat of his “terrorist” enemies will be given priority in economic investments and reconstruction, but Iran and Russia alone can’t foot the bill—estimated between $200 to $400 billion—that Syria’s reconstruction requires. Both are struggling to keep their populations satisfied and facing economic troubles of their own. However, there is one country with deep pockets that has shown interest in rebuilding Syria: China.

Historically, Beijing has not considered Syria to be a top foreign policy priority. In fact, Syria is a member of the “Russian camp.” However, with the passing of time and changing conditions on the ground, both Syria and China have sought to improve their ties. Throughout the civil war, China has defended Assad internationally, even when he was accused of the most heinous of crimes. Alongside Russia, Beijing vetoed a United Nations resolution to impose sanctions against Damascus after a UN investigation found the Assad regime guilty of dropping chlorine gas from helicopters on civilians trapped in the northwestern city of Idlib. 

On a trip to Damascus, Chinese foreign minister Wang Yi met with government officials including Assad and said that China is against regime change in Syria and is committed to improving the lives of all Syrians. China wants to have a larger say in Middle East affairs—especially in the heart of the Levant region—and wants to secure the business opportunities that Syria’s destruction has created by offering the Assad regime reconstruction aid without political preconditions on matters such as human rights. China is also concerned that Uighur separatists have traveled to Syria to fight alongside Islamist groups seeking to replace Assad with a theocratic government. Reports of Uighur fighters participating in the raging Syrian conflict have had the Syrian Civil War take on new importance in Beijing. 

On January 21, 2016, President Xi Jinping spoke in Cairo, Egypt, to the Arab League about how the Middle East is a land of abundance and both China and the Arab world should join hands to maximize the benefits of the Belt and Road Initiative. Critics will argue Beijing’s intentions to embrace Assad will legitimize the latter’s hold on power and permit his continued reign without accountability for the deaths of countless innocent civilians. They are correct in the short term: This is not an ideal situation for Syrians who have suffered a decade of endless killing. However, it may be the single greatest opportunity for ordinary Syrians to salvage their future prosperity. Assad and his top followers are already doing their utmost to bypass the U.S. Caesar Act’s sanctions—which although it was designed to punish the regime and its partners for crimes against the Syrian people, has only further starved the people of the financial and economic assistance they so desperately need to reconstruct their country. 

U.S. policymakers have put too much thought into symbolic flexing, while the Chinese have already put a down payment of $2 billion on future economic projects in Syria. When the Covid-19 pandemic hit Syrian hospitals, the Chinese rushed to deliver precious medical equipment. This is what Syrians need right now, not more counterproductive and ineffective sanctions that impress upon Syrians that the West is conspiring against them, which is just the kind of conspiracy that the regime loves to peddle.

China is patiently playing a long game when it comes to improving relations with Syria and the Middle East as a whole. It wants to approach the governments in the region with an open hand of friendship. Nevertheless, if Beijing loses sight of how the local populations feel about their own leaders and how they govern, then, any “positive” relations will be superficial.

It must be clear that no government can survive with violence if it loses popular support among its people. A political solution must be reached that will ensure justice for the victims of this war and long-term stability. With China having a larger say in the Arab world, it can accelerate a demand for Assad to make the necessary concessions in return for greater international protection and finance for his national reconstruction plans. These concessions would most likely be made to pardon opposition figures and combatants, to maintain public order, and provide social cohesion to allow trade to flourish. Will it though? That remains to be seen.

The author would like to thank More Perspectives (@morepersps) for assisting in editing the article.

Adnan Nasser is an independent Middle East analyst. He has a BA in International Relations from Florida International University. Follow him on Instagram @revolutionarylebanon or contact him at Anass018@fiu.edu. 

Image: Reuters.

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Preventing conflicts requires closing development gaps, shrinking inequality and bringing hope to people around the globe, senior UN officials told the Security Council on Tuesday.

Mark Episkopos

S-500, Russia

The first ten units of Russia's new S-500 were delivered earlier in 2021.

Here's What You Need to Know: Initially slated for completion in 2012, the S-500 project has faced a long procession of delays over the past decade.

Following years of anticipation, Russia’s next-generation S-500 missile defense system is being introduced into service. 

“The state trials have just completed, and the first supplies of this complex have started,” Russian deputy prime minister Yuri Borisov told reporters. “That is not yet the full range as the Almaz-Antey Concern requires. The configurations of the complex were discussed.” Borisov did not elaborate further and his somewhat hazy statement did not become clearer when interpreted in its original Russian. The implication appears to be that certain components are missing from the handful of S-500 units that are currently being delivered to Russia’s Armed Forces. These could be core components without which the system will not function as intended or additional loadout options like different interceptor missile types. Borisov’s statement potentially suggests something of a soft launch for the new missile system, though the details remain unclear as of the time of writing.

The S-500 “Triumfator-M” is Russia’s new flagship missile system, promising across-the-board performance improvements over the country’s current S-400 Triumf. With four radar vehicles per battery, the S-500 reportedly boasts an effective operating range of six hundred kilometers against ballistic missile threats and five hundred kilometers for area defense. The system is believed to be capable of detecting ballistic missiles at a range of up to two thousand kilometers and can track as many as ten ballistic missiles flying at speeds of around seven kilometers per second. Armed with the new, reportedly hypersonic family of 77N6 interceptor missiles, the S-500 is believed to be capable of intercepting hypersonic cruise missiles and intercontinental ballistic missiles, as well as other aerial objects flying at a speed of over Mach five. It is widely reported that a naval variant of the S-500 will be featured on Russia’s upcoming Project 23560 Lider-class destroyer.

Initially slated for completion in 2012, the S-500 project has faced a long procession of delays over the past decade. The cause of these delays was never made clear, as the system’s development history is being kept tightly under wraps by Moscow. The first ten units entered serial production earlier in 2021, with Russia’s Deputy Defense Minister Alexei Krivoruchko announcing in December 2020 that the S-500 will be introduced into service by the end of 2021.

Despite being branded as a successor to the S-400, there is no indication that the S-500 will be mass-produced in sufficient numbers to widely replace its predecessor any time soon. The S-500 is meant not to substitute, but to complement, the S-400. Though there is a degree of role overlap between the two systems, the S-500 nevertheless fills a unique niche against advanced threats like hypersonic missiles and drones, as well as next-generation stealth fighters. The S-500 will serve alongside older and less capable systems like the S-400 and S-300 to form an additional layer on top of Russia’s echeloned missile defense network, offering what Moscow believes to be unprecedented capabilities against the latest and most dangerous threats.

Mark Episkopos is a national security reporter for the National Interest. 

This article first appeared in September 2021 and is being republished due to reader interest.

Image: Reuters.

Mark Episkopos

Hypersonic Missiles, North Korea

Pyongyang announced in late September 2021 that it had tested a hypersonic missile, but South Korean intelligence deemed the test a failure.

Here's What You Need to Know: The purported test would make North Korea one of four other countries—namely, China, Russia, India, and the United States—to be actively engaged in hypersonic weapons projects.

North Korea announced in September that it launched a hypersonic missile, potentially putting the Hermit Kingdom a hair’s breadth from fielding one of the world’s most advanced categories of strike weapons.

The new missile, dubbed the Hwasong-8, is a top priority under the country’s five-year military development program, state media outlet KCNA reported. North Korean sources used the term “strategic” to describe the new weapon, suggesting that the Hwasong-8 offers nuclear warhead compatibility. 

The missile’s specifications remain unclear. Analysts say that the single photo accompanying the tests suggests, but does not conclusively show, the Hwasong-8 to be a hypersonic boost-glide vehicle (HGV) system. HGVs are one of two primary categories of hypersonic missiles, the other being hypersonic cruise missiles. HGVs are launched from a regular rocket booster before separating to glide toward their target. Experts believe that the sheer speed of these weapons and their unpredictable flight path makes them exceedingly difficult to intercept.

North Korea’s hypersonic ambitions have been years in the making. “The push to develop a hypersonic glider isn't all too surprising given that Kim Jong-un had indicated this back in January,” said defense analyst Ankit Panda.

While the Hwasong-8 took the major headlines on Wednesday, the KCNA report revealed another, potentially no less consequential, “bombshell.” The report noted that the test “ascertained the stability of the engine as well as of missile fuel ampoule that has been introduced for the first time,” suggesting that the DPRK has attained the ability to fuel its missiles in the factory rather than after being deployed in the field. “If the DPRK fuels the missiles in the factory, military units don't have to spend time doing it in the field when the US Air Force is doing its level best to kill them. . . . Big step for the DPRK,” Middlebury Institute of International Studies professor Jeffrey Lewis said in a social media post on Twitter.

Experts have interpreted the test as an ominous development for Seoul and Tokyo. “If true, it means current South Korean and Japanese missile defense systems become close to impotent,” Lionel Fatton, an assistant professor at Webster University in Switzerland and researcher at Meiji University in Japan, told CNN. Others were less quick to jump to conclusions. “One flight test is far from enough to successfully develop this kind of technology,” Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for International Security and Nonproliferation Vann Van Diepen said. “For them, lauding the technical achievement this represents is a big part of what’s going on—at least at this stage.”

The purported test would make North Korea one of four other countries—namely, China, Russia, India, and the United States—to be actively engaged in hypersonic weapons projects. Two such weapons, the Avangard HGV and the Kh-47M2 Kinzhal air-launched ballistic missile, are currently fielded by Russia’s military. China’s DF-ZF hypersonic glide vehicle achieved initial operating capability in 2019. 

It remains unclear whether the Hwasong-8 missile is being fully sourced through domestic expertise and supply chains or if the DPRK is benefitting from foreign technology transfers in the realm of hypersonics. 

The test was reportedly deemed a failure by a South Korean intelligence assessment that concluded the Hwasong-8 did not exceed Mach 2.5, allegedly falling well short of the Mach 5 threshold for hypersonic speed. South Korea’s joint chiefs of staff said in a press statement that the missile remains in an early development stage and is still a ways off from entering service in the DPRK military. The statement added that the missile can be intercepted by current U.S. and South Korean missile defenses.

Mark Episkopos is a national security reporter for the National Interest. 

This article first appeared in September 2021 and is being republished due to reader interest.

Image: Reuters.

At a “critical conference” supporting the UN agency for Palestinian refugees, Secretary-General António Guterres outlined on Tuesday, the “essential role” it continues to play in generations of lives.      

Kyle Mizokami

Iran, Middle East

Between the Iranian Army and the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, Iran would pose a serious challenge to any of its neighbors.

Here's What You Need to Remember: The most important part of the IRGC, and possibly all of the Iranian Armed Forces, is the Quds Force. Consisting of fifteen to thirty thousand of the best IRGC troops, the Quds Force provides Tehran’s regime with an unconventional warfare capability.

One of the most powerful and influential countries in the Middle East is undoubtedly Iran. The Islamic Republic of Iran sits astride several key strategic—and often volatile—regions, including the Persian Gulf, Central Asia, the Indian Ocean and the Caucasus. Iran is primarily a land power, and has invaded and suffered invasion from other peoples and countries over the past several thousand years. As a result, Iran retains large ground forces, both in the Iranian Army itself and the paramilitary Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps.

The commander in chief of the Iranian Armed Forces is the Supreme Leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. Like many states, there are two armies: the Iranian Army, loyal to the country itself, and the IRGC and its Basij militia, which is loyal to the regime and the spirit of the revolution. Unlike most states with two armies, the Iranian Army and the IRGC suffer from less role and capability duplication, in large extent due to the Iranian Revolution.

The Iranian Revolution of 1979 deposed the monarchy under the shah and imposed a theocratic revolutionary state. The new rulers of Iran, skeptical of long-standing institutions historically loyal to the shah, allowed the Army to survive as an organization but developed the Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps as a counterweight. While the Army would guard the country’s borders and defend against external threats, the IRGC would guard the regime itself. As a result, the Army was arrayed generally towards Iran’s primary enemies at the time—Iraq, Israel and Saudi Arabia—and placed mostly near the Iranian border. The IRGC, on the other hand, maintains significant garrisons in Iran’s major cities and towns.

In 2013, the Center for Strategic and International Studies assessed the Islamic Iranian Ground Forces as consisting of 350,000 active duty troops, including 130,000 professionals and 220,000 draftees. These troops are organized into four armored divisions, two mechanized infantry divisions, four light infantry divisions, six artillery groups, two special forces/commando divisions, an airborne brigade, three to four commando brigades, an unknown number of aviation units, and other separate armored and infantry brigades.

The ground forces have a number of armored vehicles at their disposal, including 1,663 main battle tanks, 725 reconnaissance and infantry fighting vehicles, 640 armored personnel carriers, 2,322 towed and self-propelled howitzers, and 1,476 multiple rocket launchers. While the sheer amount of equipment sounds impressive, and many pieces, such as the UK’s Chieftain tank, American Sea Cobra attack helicopter and M113 armored personnel carrier, were first-rate weapons for their time, much of it is very dated by 2017 standards. This equipment has been supplemented by Russian equipment purchased during the 1990s to rearm the battle-worn Ground Forces. In general, however, the Ground Forces remain chronically underequipped, crippled by sanctions and a lack of domestic military technology.

Western sanctions and arms embargoes directed against Iran created a vacuum that the country’s nascent arms industry struggled to fill. Today Iran has an enthusiastic, if not quite cutting-edge military-industrial complex. It manufactures a slew of small arms and support weapons for the infantry and offers domestic copies of vehicles such as the BMP-2 infantry fighting vehicle and T-72 main battle tank. Not all of its stated achievements pan out, however; Iran claims to have designed and built the Karrar (“Striker”) main battle tank in just one year, which it says is in some ways superior to the Russian T-90MS it had been attempting to purchase. This is almost certainly untrue.

The IRGC, an equal service alongside the Ground Forces, maintains land forces of its own. The hundred-thousand-strong Ground Forces of the Army of the Guardians of the Islamic Revolution protects the theocratic regime, and as such is more lightly armed than the regular Iranian Army. The Basij paramilitary militia is a lightly armed force also meant to protect the revolution and regime. The Basij infamously acted as poorly trained cannon fodder in the Iran-Iraq War, sending young boys and old men against prepared Iraqi defenses. Today, it is described as a “combination of political party and military organisation” of four to five million that keeps tabs on dissenters and guards the regime.

The most important part of the IRGC, and possibly all of the Iranian Armed Forces, is the Quds Force. Consisting of fifteen to thirty thousand of the best IRGC troops, the Quds Force provides Tehran’s regime with an unconventional warfare capability, broadly similar to the CIA and U.S. Special Forces circa 1967. The Quds Force typically operates alongside nonstate actors such as Hezbollah, providing training, weapons and support. Analysts believe that the Quds Force armed elements of the Iraqi insurgency with IEDs built around explosively forged penetrators, allowing them to penetrate armored vehicles. According to retired U.S. Army general Stanley McChrystal, “We knew where all the factories were in Iran. The E.F.P.s killed hundreds of Americans.”

Much like China’s army in the 1980s, the Iranian Army and other ground forces are large but poorly armed. Iran’s sheer size, both in geography and population, are a deterrent to invasion. With Iraq struggling for its own survival, Tehran’s ground forces generally exist to secure the borders and keep the existing system of government in place. That being said, like the People’s Liberation Army, an injection of funding—and purpose—could turn Iran into the dominant land power in the Middle East.

Kyle Mizokami is a defense and national-security writer based in San Francisco who has appeared in the Diplomat, Foreign Policy, War is Boring and the Daily Beast. In 2009 he cofounded the defense and security blog Japan Security Watch. You can follow him on Twitter: @KyleMizokami. 

This first appeared a few years ago and is being reposted due to reader interest. 

Image: Reuters

A new Iranian law that raises the prospect of the death penalty for abortion has been condemned by independent human rights experts, who have declared that is in “clear contravention of international law”.

Kris Osborn

Russian Submarines, Eurasia

Russia thinks its Navy has matching capabilities to the US Navy. 

Here's What You Need to Remember: Should Russia succeed in launching a scramjet-powered hypersonic missile from beneath the surface, then that development might represent a substantial breakthrough sufficient to generate international attention.

Russia plans to be the first country to fire a hypersonic missile from a submarine, a new attack prospect likely to introduce new tactical options for commanders looking to attack from the sea. 

Submarines can fire high-speed cruise missiles—such as U.S. Tomahawks or Russian Kalibr—that are able to travel five hundred or more miles per hour. An attack weapon capable of traveling at hypersonic speeds introduces an entirely new dimension of surprise attack. 

Weapons such as the Tomahawk are often considered “first strike” possibilities in warfare engagements given their precision and range. They can destroy fixed land targets such as command and control centers, bunkers and other types of fortified enemy targets. Tomahawks were designed to fly parallel to the ground for the specific purpose of evading Soviet air defenses during the Cold War. Following the end of that war, the U.S. Navy has regularly made upgrades to it. The Tomahawk missiles of today can change course mid-flight to hit moving targets, rely upon a wider range of guidance systems and datalinks, and even leverage new kinds of explosives. 

A sea-launched weapon able to travel at five times the speed of sound would be much more likely to penetrate or evade enemy air defense systems. Some people might wonder how a scramjet-powered hypersonic missile, such as the Russian Tsirkon, could launch from beneath the surface. The weapon may need to be fired from a submarine that has surfaced given the level of heat and high-speed propulsion required to thrust a weapon forward at hypersonic speeds and sustain those speeds. This may be part of why Russia’s TASS news agency is reporting that a second launch from “undersea” is planned to follow the first surface launch. 

“The first launch of a Tsirkon from the Severodvinsk submarine within the framework of development flight tests will be carried out from the water surface position at the beginning of October,” according to the news agency. “Depending on its results, the second launch from underwater at sea targets is scheduled in November.”

It is possible that the Russians might fire the Tsirkon from a submarine that has surfaced given that they have already test-fired the missile from a surface ship several times. Should Russia succeed in launching a scramjet-powered hypersonic missile from beneath the surface, then that development might represent a substantial breakthrough sufficient to generate international attention.

It is notable that the TASS news agency is citing Russian scientists who are suggesting that Russia’s submarine technologies are “superior” to the West. Chief Scientist of the Russian State Research Center Vladimir Peshekhonov informed the news agency that periscope and fiber-optic networking technology built into Russian submarines are possibly superior to that of U.S. Navy submarines. 

“Today, the periscope equipment installed on the newest US Navy submarines is no better than the same gear that Russian submarines are equipped with. In this respect, the situational awareness levels of the submarine crews of the US Navy and the Russian Navy are approximately the same, including technical features such as resolution and color contrasts,” Peshekhonov told TASS.  

The reference to fiber-optics and periscope technology seems significant, as the U.S. Navy’s Block III Virginia-class attack submarines and the Navy’s nuclear-armed Columbia-class are both being engineered with fiber-optic connectivity. This is a networking breakthrough that enables periscope viewing from an entire range of locations throughout a submarine—without requiring viewing to take place just below the top of the submarine near the surface. 

Kris Osborn is the defense editor for the National Interest. Osborn previously served at the Pentagon as a Highly Qualified Expert with the Office of the Assistant Secretary of the Army—Acquisition, Logistics & Technology. Osborn has also worked as an anchor and on-air military specialist at national TV networks. He has appeared as a guest military expert on Fox News, MSNBC, The Military Channel, and The History Channel. He also has a Master's Degree in Comparative Literature from Columbia University. 

This article is being reprinted for reader interest.

Image: Reuters

Sensitizing public opinion to the question of Palestine, and promoting a peaceful settlement to the decades-long conflict between Israelis and Palestinians, are among the goals of the 2021 UN International Media Seminar on Peace in the Middle East, which began on Tuesday. 

Mark Episkopos

Russian Navy, Black Sea

Russia and Ukraine each announced military exercises in the region in September 2021.

Here's What You Need to Know: Military tensions in the Black Sea have become routine following the 2014 Euromaidan revolution in Ukraine and Russia’s subsequent annexation of Crimea, bringing a cascade of aerial interceptions, high-profile military exercises, and increasingly risky naval altercations between Russian and NATO forces.

The Russian Navy is holding large-scale exercises in the Black Sea amid simmering military tensions with Ukraine.

“About 20 surface ships and support vessels of the Black Sea Fleet have deployed to the sea from their naval bases in Sevastopol and Novorossiysk to hold joint drills with missile and artillery firings,” according to Russia’s Black Sea Fleet press office in September 2021. “The warships have deployed to naval training ranges in accordance with a plan of the Black Sea Fleet’s combat training measures for the 2021 training year.”

These twenty surface vessels will perform joint operations with submarines, planes, helicopters, and minesweeping units that will likewise be present over the course of the drills. The precise makeup of the participating vessels and aircraft has not been revealed. The exercise will involve live-fire artillery and missile strikes against notional enemy targets, minesweeping operations, mock naval engagements, anti-submarine missions, and countermeasures against a hypothetical airborne assault.

This latest round of Russian exercises comes on the heels of mounting military tensions between Russia and Ukraine. Kiev will hold its own set of wide-ranging exercises, dubbed Joint Efforts 2021, from September 22–30. The Ukrainian exercises will be conducted on training grounds across the country, as well as the Black Sea and Sea of Azov. The drills are partly intended as a response to the massive Zapad 2021 exercises jointly organized by Russia and Belarus earlier this month, according to top Ukrainian military officials.

Military tensions in the Black Sea have become routine following the 2014 Euromaidan revolution in Ukraine and Russia’s subsequent annexation of Crimea, bringing a cascade of aerial interceptions, high-profile military exercises, and increasingly risky naval altercations between Russian and NATO forces. Earlier this year, Russia and Britain were almost drawn into an active maritime conflict when the Black Sea Fleet and U.S. Coast Guard reportedly fired warning shots and dropped bombs in the path of the British Type 45 destroyer HMS Defender to chase the warship out of Russia’s claimed territorial waters near the Crimean coast. The Fleet held a major live-fire exercise in the Black Sea in April, imposing what amounts to a transit ban on part of the surrounding area for the stated purpose of conducting the exercises safely. Those drills coincided with the U.S. Navy’s announcement that the U.S. Coast Guard cutter Hamilton entered the Black Sea “to support NATO allies and partners.” 

Russia has steadily built up its Black Sea Fleet in recent years, adding three modernized guided-missile corvettes from the Admiral Grigorovich-class. The fleet possesses the hulking Moskva guided-missile cruiser, as well as a slew of Kilo and Project 636.3 Improved Kilo diesel-electric attack submarines. The Crimean Peninsula has been fortified with a formidable arsenal of echeloned air and missile defenses, contributing to a growing Russian anti-access, area-denial network in the Black Sea region. Crimea has likewise become an established part of Russia’s domestic defense industry, with the Zaliv Shipyard in Kerch floating out two missile corvettes—Tsiklon and Askold—since 2020, both belonging to the new Karakurt-class. 

Mark Episkopos is a national security reporter for the National Interest. 

This article first appeared earlier in 2021 and is being republished due to reader interest.

Image: Reuters.

Envahi par Israël en 1967 puis annexé en 1981, le Golan est considéré par les Nations unies comme un territoire occupé. Ce plateau culminant à plus de 2 000 mètres domine la Galilée et les plaines de Damas. C'est aussi un château d'eau dont les ressources sont captées par Tel-Aviv au détriment de la (...) / Israël, Proche-Orient, Syrie, Conflit israélo-arabe, Histoire, Droits des minorités, Colonisation, Frontières - Proche-Orient

Mark Episkopos

Barbel-class, United States

The Barbel line is perhaps best seen as a contingency class of advanced diesel-electric submarines, produced in case nuclear propulsion became a technological dead end.

Here's What You Need to Remember: The Barbel class boasted six torpedo tubes for a total of eighteen torpedoes, a range of 14,000-19,000 miles, and was capable of a respectable (though hardly record-shattering) top submerged speed of twenty-five knots.

The last of the U.S. Navy’s diesel-electric attack submarines, the Barbel-class submarines were among the most advanced boats of their time. But only three were ever built, as the Barbel-class was fast overshadowed by looming developments in nuclear propulsion technology.

When the USS Barbel—the lead ship in what would become a line of three Barbel-class submarines— was commissioned in 1959, it served as a showcase of some of the most advanced submarine technologies of its time. The Barbel boats were the first serially-produced submarines to feature the Albacore, or ‘teardrop’, hull design, which boasts an impressive range of hydrodynamic benefits: among them, higher speeds, a smaller acoustic signature, and potentially the more efficient use of internal space. The USS Barbel’s reinforced, double-steel hull is the serially produced product derived from the experimental USS Albacore, which was the first submarine to feature a teardrop hull design concept.

The Barbel came in at a displacement of 2,146 tons, with an 8.8-meter beam and 66 meters length. Its front bow housed a sonar, with the submarine being among the first to feature a centralized controls array, conning tower, and attack center layout. This forward-thinking design translated into a formidable performance package. The Barbel class boasted six torpedo tubes for a total of eighteen torpedoes, a range of 14,000-19,000 miles, and was capable of a respectable (though hardly record-shattering) top submerged speed of twenty-five knots.

The only red mark on what is otherwise the Barbel’s potent specifications sheet was its standard diesel-electric propulsion system. At the time, Diesel boat technology was a badge of honor— literally. The alternatives to diesel were so technologically ripe and unreliable in their early incarnations that many in the U.S. Navy’s submarine force came to vastly prefer diesel technology, spawning the famous DBF pin: “Diesel Boats Forever.”

But nostalgia and reluctance to reinvent the wheel could not stop the inexorable march of progress in submarine technology: even as the Barbel-class boats were being laid down, naval engineers were making massive strides in nuclear propulsion technology. Building on the preliminary success of the USS Nautilus— the world’s first nuclear-powered submarine— the Skipjack-class successfully combined the hydrodynamic benefits of a teardrop hull with a S5W nuclear-powered reactor. This made the Skipjack-class not only markedly faster at a top submerged speed of thirty-three knots but gave it the virtually unlimited operational range that is standard to nuclear submarines.

The decision was made not to pursue further Barbel-class models beyond the three that had already entered service: Barbel, Blueback, and Bonefish. The former two were decommissioned following a decades-long and relatively uneventful service life, while the Bonefish was taken out of service after a 1988 fire that led to the deaths of three crew members.

As aptly observed by submarine expert H I Sutton, the Barbel line is perhaps best seen as a contingency class of advanced diesel-electric submarines, produced in the off-chance that the development of nuclear propulsion became a technological dead end. That proved not to be the case, with the U.S. Navy going on to acquire an entirely nuclear submarine force by the turn of the twentieth-century.

Mark Episkopos is a national security reporter for The National Interest. 

This article is being republished due to reader interest.

Image: Wikimedia Commons.