Tragedy in the Barents Sea: AU-12 performed a secret task?
The first of July will be the black day of the Russian Navy. In peacetime, the Northern Fleet lost its elite, 14 officers, among whom were two Heroes of Russia. What could happen in the depths of the Barents Sea, and was it possible to avoid the tragedy?
According to reports, the fire occurred at the deep-sea autonomous station AS-12, unofficially called "Losharik." The device consists of a series of titanium spheres hidden inside a cylindrical body, which gave it a comic name in honor of the "horse made of balls." The station has its own nuclear engine, its crew has 24 officers. It is able to descend to a depth of 6 kilometers and is not armed. Actually, this is almost all that is known.
The fact is that the AC-12 is one of the most classified projects of the domestic defense industry. The mysterious submarine is assigned to the Northern Fleet, but is included in the Submarine Intelligence Directorate and reports directly to the country's defense minister. A few years ago, Pentagon analysts came to the conclusion that the Losharik could be a subversive vehicle that could cut the underwater Internet cables connecting the Old and New Worlds in the event of a military conflict. Also in NATO, the AC-12 was hypothetically “a submarine on wheels,” that is, an autonomous deep-sea station will be able to navigate directly along the seabed after appropriate modernization, which will exclude the possibility of its discovery in the traditional way.
So what caused the emergency with such tragic consequences?
It is known that "Losharik" was previously used for quite peaceful research purposes. For example, in 2012, he was involved in a mission to study the Arctic bottom. The apparatus with the help of a manipulator lifted soil samples to the surface. Thus, with the help of military submariners, the boundaries of our continental shelf were determined.
The events of July 1 are covered in the press extremely foggy. But the famous military expert Viktor Baranets suggested that such a highly professional personnel of the AC-12 performed an extremely important task in testing a top-secret defense system:
Recall, "Poseidon" - a promising domestic submarine drones, which should deliver nuclear weapons in an autonomous mode to the shores of a potential enemy. This name is widely known after the memorable address of President Putin to the Federal Assembly. It is possible that an emergency occurred during testing or preparation for them.
The famous Russian oceanologist Anatoly Sagalevich admits that the cause could be a gas explosion inside the device:
This has already happened on the US Navy Thrasher submarine and on our Komsomolets submarine. Unfortunately, submarines sometimes die along with the crew. Therefore, I would like to separately touch on the topic of the possibility of their salvation.
The tragedy of Kursk happened 18 years ago, in 2000. In 2005, the first salvage ship of the submarines of project 21300 Igor Belousov was laid. It was assumed that in the series there will be 4, 1 for each fleet of our Navy. However, the construction period was delayed, and Belousov was launched only in 2015. Today, there is only one rescue submarine available, and it is assigned to the Pacific Fleet. That is, if something happened, in the same Northern Fleet, where the emergency occurred, it would have been necessary to manage “on our own”.
In addition to the ship itself, there are questions about rescue equipment, which is largely foreign. Within the framework of the “import substitution” program, the development of the domestic deep-diving complex (GVK-300) is yet to begin in 2020. Experts familiar with the situation explain:
The reason is "financial difficulties." There is no money, but you hold on, in general.
According to reports, the fire occurred at the deep-sea autonomous station AS-12, unofficially called "Losharik." The device consists of a series of titanium spheres hidden inside a cylindrical body, which gave it a comic name in honor of the "horse made of balls." The station has its own nuclear engine, its crew has 24 officers. It is able to descend to a depth of 6 kilometers and is not armed. Actually, this is almost all that is known.
The fact is that the AC-12 is one of the most classified projects of the domestic defense industry. The mysterious submarine is assigned to the Northern Fleet, but is included in the Submarine Intelligence Directorate and reports directly to the country's defense minister. A few years ago, Pentagon analysts came to the conclusion that the Losharik could be a subversive vehicle that could cut the underwater Internet cables connecting the Old and New Worlds in the event of a military conflict. Also in NATO, the AC-12 was hypothetically “a submarine on wheels,” that is, an autonomous deep-sea station will be able to navigate directly along the seabed after appropriate modernization, which will exclude the possibility of its discovery in the traditional way.
So what caused the emergency with such tragic consequences?
It is known that "Losharik" was previously used for quite peaceful research purposes. For example, in 2012, he was involved in a mission to study the Arctic bottom. The apparatus with the help of a manipulator lifted soil samples to the surface. Thus, with the help of military submariners, the boundaries of our continental shelf were determined.
The events of July 1 are covered in the press extremely foggy. But the famous military expert Viktor Baranets suggested that such a highly professional personnel of the AC-12 performed an extremely important task in testing a top-secret defense system:
Of course, I mean Poseidon here. I do not exclude that the Poseidon was at the bottom of the sea, and it had to be looked for, it was necessary to retrieve, maybe restart. And here we needed not just submariners, but scientists, professionals.
Recall, "Poseidon" - a promising domestic submarine drones, which should deliver nuclear weapons in an autonomous mode to the shores of a potential enemy. This name is widely known after the memorable address of President Putin to the Federal Assembly. It is possible that an emergency occurred during testing or preparation for them.
The famous Russian oceanologist Anatoly Sagalevich admits that the cause could be a gas explosion inside the device:
There is a short circuit in electrical circuits. It happens that gas accumulates in the batteries - and this gas explodes. These are the most common reasons.
This has already happened on the US Navy Thrasher submarine and on our Komsomolets submarine. Unfortunately, submarines sometimes die along with the crew. Therefore, I would like to separately touch on the topic of the possibility of their salvation.
The tragedy of Kursk happened 18 years ago, in 2000. In 2005, the first salvage ship of the submarines of project 21300 Igor Belousov was laid. It was assumed that in the series there will be 4, 1 for each fleet of our Navy. However, the construction period was delayed, and Belousov was launched only in 2015. Today, there is only one rescue submarine available, and it is assigned to the Pacific Fleet. That is, if something happened, in the same Northern Fleet, where the emergency occurred, it would have been necessary to manage “on our own”.
In addition to the ship itself, there are questions about rescue equipment, which is largely foreign. Within the framework of the “import substitution” program, the development of the domestic deep-diving complex (GVK-300) is yet to begin in 2020. Experts familiar with the situation explain:
Despite the relevance of the topic and the urgent need of the fleet for new rescuers of submarines, certain bureaucratic nuances still shift the terms to the right.
The reason is "financial difficulties." There is no money, but you hold on, in general.
Information