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The article mentions how this sub can operate up to 6,000M underwater and throws out this juicy bit > The craft reportedly was used to target undersea communica

The article mentions how this sub can operate up to 6,000M underwater and throws out this juicy bit > The craft reportedly was used to target undersea communications and other cables. I doubt it's more than speculation but... I believe it's in the order of $5M + 2 weeks to fix cables breaks near the shore and >$10M + 8 weeks to fix them in the middle of the ocean which sounded like a lucrative opportunity for blackmail

dirtyid 7y ago
Probably tap undersea cables than bust them - which a fishing trawler could do with more deniability. Regardless, prototype Nuclear espionage sub, all officer crew of 25, 7 of the dead were Captain 1st Rank (right under admiral), 2 recipients of the Hero of the Russian Federation. My interest is certainly piqued.
- baybal2 7y ago
  I don't buy it that an all officer crew wasn't able to don rebreathers in time. Fire drill is like a number 1 drill in the fleet, and a submariner, moreover a captain should be able to do it with his eyes closed
  - ddalex 7y ago
    Growing up in an Eastern Eu country (former communism), nobody there underestimates the professionalism of soviet military. They are many, but not brilliant - see MH17 and so on.
    - alecmg 7y ago
      Please expand, it is unclear from your words do you think they are professional or not. And what exactly should we see with MH17?
      - unwrap 7y ago
        I think it was pretty obvious what they meant. An old friend of mine has recently finished his term in the Russian military. According to his words explaining his own experience, and things he heard during military exercises from guys from other parts of the country, most soldiers are being trained not to defend their country, but to do three things: paint walls, wash their clothes, and clean up the premises. It's no wonder you can mistake a passenger airplane for a military aircraft after such a stimulating experience.
        raquo 7y ago
        Russia still has military draft. Gotta do something with all that free labour. They do however also have actual professional soldiers, and lots of them. Those should be more trained / competent.
        gdy 7y ago
        Considering that Americans who shot down Iran Air Flight 655 were given medals, shooting down a passenger plane is quite an achievement for a well-trained Navy. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Iran_Air_Flight_655#Post-tour_of_duty_medals https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Iran_Air_Flight_655#Post-tour_...
      - ddalex 7y ago
        I'm not comfortable sharing details because they can be traced back to specific people and events, but I've seen people doing highly-skilled high-demand tasks under alcohol influence "to calm their nerves". MH17 was shut down because the radar operator could not read his screen / correlate with other sources of information regarding civilian flights. Can tell you a bit about how professional those operators were.
- huhtenberg 7y ago
  There was also a mention that the sub is of an unusual design - a set of spheres rather than a conventional cigar shape.
  - tapland 7y ago
    I think that was based on graphics of how the interior is constructed. The sub in question should be a cigar shape: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Russian_submarine_Losharik https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Russian_submarine_Losharik
    - iguy 7y ago
      I believe the name is from a cartoon character, who is made out of balls: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1F_hX-QjDQw https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1F_hX-QjDQw
      - close04 7y ago
        A better diagram of the sub here: https://cdn.arstechnica.net/wp-content/uploads/2019/07/Ru_Losharik_Cutaway940.jpg https://cdn.arstechnica.net/wp-content/uploads/2019/07/Ru_Lo... basically a series of interconnected bathyspheres with a hydrodynamic shell over them.
        petre 7y ago
        So basically personnel can't access the reactor and engine compartments from the life support units, the sub has to surface. Here's a bigger version of the same diagram with readable text: http://www.hisutton.com/images/Ru_Losharik_Cutaway.jpg http://www.hisutton.com/images/Ru_Losharik_Cutaway.jpg Skegs, hydraulic manipulator, no weapons. It's clearly ment to tamper with undersea cables.
        iguy 7y ago
        Are any of these details more than speculation? I had the impression that the best information was some not-so-clear pictures which happened to catch it on the surface, plus the admission a few days ago that it is in fact nuclear powered, and had a suspiciously high-ranking crew. I agree that tampering with cables seems like the obvious reason for the military to go super-deep. With recovering sunken things made by your adversary a close second. And in the mid-1980s, they were much better at titanium than at video cameras.
- mc32 7y ago
  Obviously there is lots of speculation since the Russians are tight lipped about the whole incident. Some of the most speculative (but with little to no support) seem to think they were carrying a cobalt nuke larger than the Tsar Bomba.
freddie_mercury 7y ago
Making a major diplomatic incident to get $10 or $50 million? Using two subs that cost hundreds of millions to build? Seems more like fantasy than speculation.

dirtyid 7y ago

Probably tap undersea cables than bust them - which a fishing trawler could do with more deniability. Regardless, prototype Nuclear espionage sub, all officer crew of 25, 7 of the dead were Captain 1st Rank (right under admiral), 2 recipients of the Hero of the Russian Federation. My interest is certainly piqued.

baybal2 7y ago
I don't buy it that an all officer crew wasn't able to don rebreathers in time. Fire drill is like a number 1 drill in the fleet, and a submariner, moreover a captain should be able to do it with his eyes closed
- ddalex 7y ago
  Growing up in an Eastern Eu country (former communism), nobody there underestimates the professionalism of soviet military. They are many, but not brilliant - see MH17 and so on.
  - alecmg 7y ago
    Please expand, it is unclear from your words do you think they are professional or not. And what exactly should we see with MH17?
    - unwrap 7y ago
      I think it was pretty obvious what they meant. An old friend of mine has recently finished his term in the Russian military. According to his words explaining his own experience, and things he heard during military exercises from guys from other parts of the country, most soldiers are being trained not to defend their country, but to do three things: paint walls, wash their clothes, and clean up the premises. It's no wonder you can mistake a passenger airplane for a military aircraft after such a stimulating experience.
      - raquo 7y ago
        Russia still has military draft. Gotta do something with all that free labour. They do however also have actual professional soldiers, and lots of them. Those should be more trained / competent.
      - gdy 7y ago
        Considering that Americans who shot down Iran Air Flight 655 were given medals, shooting down a passenger plane is quite an achievement for a well-trained Navy. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Iran_Air_Flight_655#Post-tour_of_duty_medals https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Iran_Air_Flight_655#Post-tour_...
    - ddalex 7y ago
      I'm not comfortable sharing details because they can be traced back to specific people and events, but I've seen people doing highly-skilled high-demand tasks under alcohol influence "to calm their nerves". MH17 was shut down because the radar operator could not read his screen / correlate with other sources of information regarding civilian flights. Can tell you a bit about how professional those operators were.
huhtenberg 7y ago
There was also a mention that the sub is of an unusual design - a set of spheres rather than a conventional cigar shape.
- tapland 7y ago
  I think that was based on graphics of how the interior is constructed. The sub in question should be a cigar shape: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Russian_submarine_Losharik https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Russian_submarine_Losharik
  - iguy 7y ago
    I believe the name is from a cartoon character, who is made out of balls: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1F_hX-QjDQw https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1F_hX-QjDQw
    - close04 7y ago
      A better diagram of the sub here: https://cdn.arstechnica.net/wp-content/uploads/2019/07/Ru_Losharik_Cutaway940.jpg https://cdn.arstechnica.net/wp-content/uploads/2019/07/Ru_Lo... basically a series of interconnected bathyspheres with a hydrodynamic shell over them.
      - petre 7y ago
        So basically personnel can't access the reactor and engine compartments from the life support units, the sub has to surface. Here's a bigger version of the same diagram with readable text: http://www.hisutton.com/images/Ru_Losharik_Cutaway.jpg http://www.hisutton.com/images/Ru_Losharik_Cutaway.jpg Skegs, hydraulic manipulator, no weapons. It's clearly ment to tamper with undersea cables.
        iguy 7y ago
        Are any of these details more than speculation? I had the impression that the best information was some not-so-clear pictures which happened to catch it on the surface, plus the admission a few days ago that it is in fact nuclear powered, and had a suspiciously high-ranking crew. I agree that tampering with cables seems like the obvious reason for the military to go super-deep. With recovering sunken things made by your adversary a close second. And in the mid-1980s, they were much better at titanium than at video cameras.
mc32 7y ago
Obviously there is lots of speculation since the Russians are tight lipped about the whole incident. Some of the most speculative (but with little to no support) seem to think they were carrying a cobalt nuke larger than the Tsar Bomba.

freddie_mercury 7y ago

Making a major diplomatic incident to get $10 or $50 million? Using two subs that cost hundreds of millions to build? Seems more like fantasy than speculation.