Chapter 489 Silent Sailing

Two days ago, the Oscar-class K-146 sailed to the Arabian Sea. For it, as long as it approaches within 400 kilometers of the US aircraft carrier formation, it has occupied the launching position. Through coordination with other communication means, it can use the P700 anti-ship missiles it carries to deal with the American aircraft carrier formation.

However, this obviously would not satisfy Captain Nirgeyev. As a Soviet submariner, he must have fearless courage. Moreover, one of his tasks this time was to test how vigilant the American aircraft carrier fleet was towards his submarine! Can the most advanced 949-class nuclear submarine achieve the performance data on paper by the designer?

Therefore, he continued to command the submarine to approach the American aircraft carrier formation until it was 100 kilometers away, and was not discovered by the Americans!

If they continue to approach to a distance of 50 kilometers, even without the anti-ship missiles they carry, they can destroy the American warships with torpedoes! With this belief, Nirgayev continued to move forward.

However, at this moment, the American aircraft carrier fleet accelerated! The Americans had realized that they had fallen into the Soviet Union's trap, so they began to pursue at full speed, heading towards the direction of Bandar Abbas!

At this time, Nirgeyev was in a dilemma. The 949-class nuclear submarine has two VM5 pressurized water reactors and a turbine power of up to 90,000 horsepower, which is enough to propel the submarine to sail at a speed of 32 knots, which is enough to catch up with the US aircraft carrier formation! (The modified Oscar class has increased displacement, resulting in a speed reduction of 28 knots)

However, if the speed continues to increase, the noise will increase! Submarines sail silently underwater at low speeds! Listening to the American aircraft carrier formation gradually going away on the sonar, Nilgayev still couldn't help but fight and ordered the submarine to go at full speed!

Full speed! The pressurized water reactor bursts out 190 megawatts of thermal power, driving the water circulation, heating the steam, driving the steam turbine, and converting it into power for the propeller at the tail. As the speed increases, the noise also starts to get louder!

Nirgeyev was betting that when the American aircraft carrier formation was moving at full speed, it would be impossible for them to notice the movements underwater. Their own noise would cover up everything!

Nirgeyev almost made the right bet, but unfortunately, he missed an underwater nuclear submarine!

The Los Angeles-class nuclear submarine also has excellent silent performance, and has been sailing in the waters ahead of the aircraft carrier formation, 150 kilometers away from the 949-class. At this distance, the hull's sonar cannot detect it!

The Type 949 nuclear submarine, which was moving at full speed, was discovered by the Los Angeles-class towed array sonar!

"The U.S. aircraft carrier formation has slowed down and they are deploying anti-submarine formations." The sonar operator listened to the sound on the water and reported to Nirgeyev.

Anti-submarine formation! Nilgayev was stunned. It seemed that his submarine had been discovered by the Americans!

That's an aircraft carrier formation! If they are discovered, it won't be long before countless anti-submarine aircraft come to surround and attack them!

"Reduce the speed, double the gears, move forward one gear, and sail quietly at eight knots." Nirgeyev gave the order immediately.

At this time, continuing to speed at full speed would be tantamount to seeking death, while shutting off the engine, waiting quietly, or even sinking to the bottom of the sea are definitely not good options!

If it is still the old-fashioned submarine with huge noise, there are not many means of confrontation. If it is discovered by American surface ships, perhaps surfacing is the best option.

But now it's different! The Oscar-class has excellent silent performance, relying on this performance, it can deal with the Americans!

"Comrade Captain, should we change course now?" asked the deputy captain Pulchev.

Now, the Americans are searching towards our position, and we have to meet them. No matter how you look at it, it feels like we are walking into a trap.

"Why do we need to change direction?" Nirgeyev asked. "Even if we turn around and leave, can we outrun the American surface ships and anti-submarine aircraft?"

Now we are facing an aircraft carrier fleet! In order to avoid exposing ourselves, we can only sail at an extremely low speed, so we can't run faster than the American warships. Moreover, we can't run faster than the surface warships. If we want to run, we have to run faster than the carrier-based aircraft, which is almost impossible.

Going towards it is the last thing the opponent would expect, and it is also your chance!

Moreover, this is also the correct choice. No matter which submarine it is, sonar can only be deployed on the bow or the side. No sonar device can be placed at the tail because the noise of the propeller and water flow there will cover everything. The tail of all submarines is a blind spot.

Now facing so many anti-submarine forces, it is very important to maintain correct monitoring of surface ships. If you turn around and leave, you will lose the means to control the surrounding situation. Nirgeyev will not do that.

So, in the sea one hundred meters deep, the 949-class nuclear submarine headed towards the US aircraft carrier formation at a silent speed of 8 knots. At this time, the American S-3 anti-submarine aircraft had already flown to the designated sea area.

"They dropped sonar buoys, all behind us," the sonar operator reported.

"Keep monitoring." Nirgeyev said. Just as he guessed, the American carrier-based aircraft moved out very quickly. Unfortunately, the Americans still miscalculated. By throwing buoys behind him, it was impossible for them to catch him!

Keep going! The speed of eight knots is a very quiet speed for the huge 949 class. The noise is completely integrated into the sea water and is difficult to be detected by the Americans.

"Active omnidirectional sonar buoy!" At this moment, the sonar operator continued to report to Nirgeyev.

It seems that Americans are already anxious!

There are two types of sonar buoys: active and passive. Passive ones can only monitor and have a long range, up to ten nautical miles. Active sonar buoys send out signals themselves and then receive them, just like radar. The effective range of this type of sonar buoy is only about one nautical mile. However, only this type of buoy can detect a submarine in a sinking state.

Obviously, the Americans could not find the sound of their submarines, so they thought they were sunk to the bottom of the sea, and tried to use active sonar buoys to locate them. This thing, after forming a network, can map the shape of the seabed, and it is completely possible to find the submarines that are sunk to the bottom of the sea. Unfortunately, the Americans were still in the wrong direction.