While Russian submarine activity in the Baltic and Mediterranean Seas and the North Atlantic are at their highest levels since the end of the Cold War, its navy has only started to be resourced and its undersea fleet, while “a pocket of competence,” remains small. This was the assessment of three international experts in a discussion Friday of a new report from the Center for Strategic and International Studies on Undersea Warfare in Northern Europe. Olga Oliker, director of the Washington, D.C., think tank’s Russia and Eurasia program, said the Russians “think we’re pretty good” at undersea and antisubmarine warfare. With only 56 submarines — nuclear attack, ballistic missile and diesel in its fleet, Moscow also “is worried about falling behind China.” During the Cold War, the Soviet Union was estimated to have 240 submarines.
Russian Sub Activity on the Rise in North Atlantic
