U.S. left in the cold on submarine technology
Al Ritter
The Dept of Defense has leased a Swedish submarine that uses AIP (air independent propulsion) that is apparently the latest in stealth technology. In war games since last summer, the Swedish sub has sunk some of highest tech nuclear subs, and most worrisome the USS Ronald Reagan, the newest aircraft carrier in our fleet.
If you assume that we are lucky that only Sweden has this technology you’d be mistaken. Sweden was the only country willing to lease us a sub for testing. Submarine technology has come to a basic stand still since the cold war ended. We happen to be the largest world power that DOESN’T have this technology. France, Germany, Spain, Sweden, Russia, and even Pakistan, has it, but America has stood stagnant while technology has passed us by.
Let’s offer a special thanks to Presidents Clinton, and Bush for this lapse in judgment, and the fact that our superior air power can be denied by any country willing to purchase or lease this technology. Is it a far stretch of the imagination to see North Korea, Iran, Libya, or any other third world country with a nutcase for a dictator trying to buy build or lease one of these stealth subs?
