They say there are no atheists in foxholes. However, in the modern era foxholes have become obsolete in modern warfare. Instead, foxholes have become the internet cafes and smart phones that put the wealth of human knowledge at our fingertips. Knowledge of the highly destructive capabilities of the world’s military can be truly terrifying when carefully considered. Yet the Navy is still trapped in their metaphorical foxholes.
A U.S. Navy attack sub. The highly destructive capability of attack submarines is why the navies of the world rely so heavily on sonar. Photo from navy.mil.
It does not take a lot of digging to discover the alarming destructive power contained in modern attack submarines. “Apocalypse in a tin can” is an apt description of any vessel with enough destructive force to obliterate life on this planet several times over. In fact, several nations contain the tools for an apocalypse at their fingertips.
Yet the theory of Mutually Assured Destruction (“MAD”) suggests that it is a less concerning threat. Most sovereign nations are not going to open up their apocalyptic force on another nation, for fear of the retaliation that would be suffered by their own nation. Making the first strike means little if it still leads to your nation’s demise. The strategic planning and positioning of much of the nuclear arsenal in the world makes it a logistical impossibility for all opposing weapons to be taken out at once, leavening the door open for retaliation. Further countless safeguards and redundancies ensure against accidental launches.
But what really frightens me is not a nation that controls a submarine armed with a hundred nuclear warheads. More horrifying to me is a terrorist organization with a broken down lemon of a submarine and one nuclear warhead. A large percentage of the population lives within striking distance of major metropolitan harbors, and even a dirty bomb would have a devastating impact on these populations.
While it might seem like this supports the idea of further sonar development, testing, and use, it instead supports redistribution of naval resources. Sonar has developed to be as powerful as it is because of how silent modern attack subs can be and how challenging they can be to detect. Yet it is unlikely that terrorists would use the ultra-silent subs controlled by the navies of the world, and therefore state of the art sonar systems would not be needed to detect them.
It would be beneficial if some of the resources devoted to sonar testing and development should be redistributed to developing passive listening stations and training to detect a possible terrorist threat in the form of a small 2-3 man submersible and one nuclear explosive. Countermeasures such as passive acoustic monitoring sites and sophistically tailored analytical software could be used to greatly reduce this threat. These stations could serve the dual purpose of providing more passive listening stations that could provide valuable data to bioacousticians working to better understand marine populations.
Warfare, like the people who wage it, is constantly evolving. By redistributing some of their training resources, the Navy can provide a more complete basis for protection, and additionally will move away from practices that are potentially harmful to marine mammals. While sonar is a valuable tool, it should nevertheless be used as sparingly as possible.
The Deafening Sound of Freedom 