I have the text translated to English (by Google) ... I am tempted to post (share) some of the tidbits here from that translation, about aspects the video noted re conventional submarine operation under ice,
In the end, I decided to copy selected translations from the Portugese language video about the Portuguese Navy's "NRP ArpĂŁo (TKMS Type-214 variant AIP-lead-acid battery) submarine under ice journey. I note from what I read, also onboard was:
- Danish naval officer
- Canadian naval officer (submariner) who is now CO of a Canadian Victoria class submarine
- US Navy civilian scientists, who have experiece in under ice travel on SSNs and in part acted as under-ice pilots.
Here are selected Google translations from the video â where my not speaking Portuguese means I can not certify the translation is accurate. I have approximate times in which the comments are stated in the Portuguese language video.
--- start of extracts from text of video ---
[
02:51] Regarding the internal part and personnel, there was a need to train people for navigation that is not normally done in submarinesâthat is, navigation under the ice. There was training, study, and instruction, and this gave us a certain guarantee that conditions were met at the training level so the crew could perform this mission.
âŠ
[
03:14] At the material level, small adaptations were made to these submarines, specifically regarding the periscope and optronics, which were reinforced in the event that, in an emergency situation, the ship had to surface and be better prepared to withstand a potential impact.
âŠ
[
03:31] At the logistical level, we have the issue of projecting material and equipment to the submarine should the need arise. Naturally, there was prior preparation to equip the submarine with a batch of spare parts for what was foreseen might need replacement. However, the fact that the submarine was operating in a port with a relatively small dimension in Nuuk, Greenland, brought added complexities, but they were all studied and analyzed, making it easy to comply with these requirements.
âŠ
[
04:52] Therefore, during the planning phase, we revisited the ship's systems together with the manufacturer. We installed protections on top of the tower for the masts protruding from the tower structure to prevent the initial contact with any piece of ice from being made directly by these masts, on the one hand; and on the other hand, we installed upward-looking sonar, which allowed us to look up.
âŠ
[
05:22] The submarine did not have this very robust capability; it did not have this capability very robustly. By installing this sonar, we gained the ability to look upward in a much safer and firmer way than we had previously. Those were the two major changes we made to the ship.
âŠ
[
05:56] Expectations for the mission: being a novelty, with little experience regarding the Arctic and the ice. From there, when we started navigating, when we arrived near Greenland and started hearing certain soundsâwhich is a different experience in the ice, since the sounds we hear are newâand they were new, we learned a lot. We made several recordings so that in the future, whether for our own submarines or our allies, they can also have help from us, just as we had help from the American and Canadian navies who navigate in those areas.
âŠ
[
08:18] To prepare ourselves for the extreme conditions of this mission, which involves navigating in an Arctic environment, we started by reading and studying all available doctrine and publications concerning this type of navigation and what it's like to be at such high latitudes.
...
[
08:33] Specifically, as the head of the operations department of our submarine, I prepared myself to study how our sensors would behave in an environment different from what we are used to. We also assembled and installed different, specific sensors to be able to detect and track ice, and we trained and established methods and procedures to be able to navigate safely in the ice.
âŠ
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10:13] Within the scope of the Arctic voyage, the big novelty and the great challenges were the unknownânot knowing how we were going to navigate. We know that when navigating under the ice, there is no noise and we have silence. We didn't know how that transition would take place. It was necessary to install a new sonar on top of the tower; it was necessary to know what the actual operation and the actual echoes of the ice on the sonar would be. All of these were novelties that we had to try to explore before reaching the ice and try to mitigate.
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[
11:31] The most striking moment of this voyage for me was when we performed the periscopic depth maneuver in the middle of the marginal zone. The marginal zone is an intermediate area where we have the solid ice sheet, and then the ice degrades until it becomes open waters.
âŠ
[
11:50] Managing to perform the periscopic depth maneuver in that spot, to everyone's astonishment, was undoubtedly the high point of this mission. And
that was only possible because it was recognized by the American ice pilotsâwho are submarine ice navigation specialists accompanying all American submarines navigating under the ice, who were embarked with usâ
who recognized that we were capable, felt confidence in it, and they were the ones who also helped us.
âŠ
[
12:33] Navigating with a ceiling above us that is not a flat ceiling, because Arctic ice creates mountains that extend from the surface downward... we encountered mountains with 90 meters of ice extending downward. Therefore, you have to be careful not to hit any of these mountains, because
we are used to navigating while worrying about the floor and not worrying about the upper part, because the upper part is water, and after the water is airâthe atmosphere. In this case, it was a very particular situation: we had to operate between two constraints, one from above and one from below. But it was super interesting and super motivating.
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[
13:14] To the allied ice pilots, my gratitude. Without them, it would have been much more difficult to conduct the missionânot impossible, but much more difficult. We would have had more apprehensions because we didn't have the experience to help us face and plan the measures, those risk-mitigation measures for the crew.
---- end of video text translation extracts ---
For the moderators, feel free to delete if this if considered not appropriate.
What I wanted to point out about by this, is there are aspects that need considering before blanket off-the-cuff comment about under-ice operations, without actually examining in more detail what has been done, and has not been done.
For âthe recordâ , I 100% agree an SSN is more capable in terms of under ice operations endurance. Whether it is better value for the money thou for under ice plus all other operation, is an entirely different question â and not at question that I am trying to cover here.
Rather given TKMS with the Type-212CD, has been selected by Canada as the preferred supplier for the RCN, I thought to add some information on the under-ice operation already known for an AIP equipped submarine.
knowledge of oceanography, but I'm guessing they were in the same spot because it was the best layer to hide from other subs...
