A Navy Submarine Flotilla Strengthens Systems Thinking to Win a 'Comeback Battle'
A Navy Submarine Flotilla Strengthens Systems Thinking to Win a 'Comeback Battle'—— Yesterday Fighting Alone, Today Winning Through Joint Operations
■ Song Shaowen, PLA Daily Special Correspondent Chen Zesheng
High winds and rough seas on the surface, dark currents surging below.
Recently, a red-versus-blue confrontation exercise got underway in a certain sea area. Anti-submarine forces composed of multiple surface warships and combat aircraft played the red force, while a submarine from a Navy submarine flotilla served as the blue force's main element. Red force commander Yao Yanjun and blue force submarine commander Peng Zhong were no strangers to each other. Not long before, the two had each led their respective forces in a fierce engagement.
In that earlier encounter, the blue force submarine had barely reached the target sea area when it detected the noise of surface vessels. Peng Zhong judged from this that the submarine had entered the red force's search range and decisively ordered: "Adjust course, prepare to dive."
Above the surface, Yao Yanjun was fixed on his screens inside the red force command post, tensely analyzing the battlefield situation. After picking up traces of the blue force submarine, he rapidly maneuvered his forces, directing multiple vessels to cooperate in constructing an encircling defensive line, with airborne anti-submarine forces responding simultaneously, joining with the surface warships to weave a dense sea-and-air three-dimensional "shark-hunting net."
Realizing that the red force's encirclement was tightening, Peng Zhong issued a series of maneuvering orders in quick succession, attempting to reverse the passive situation. However, after several attempts, the submarine was never able to break free of the encirclement. In the end, the blue force suffered a regrettable defeat.
In this confrontation, what was the same was that the old adversaries met again; what was different was that the blue force was no longer fighting alone but took the field together with a surface warship formation.
After the previous defeat, Peng Zhong immediately led his officers and men in an after-action review. During the data-driven discussion, he spoke from the heart: "The red force used ship-aircraft linkage, while we fought alone. A single submarine, no matter how agile, can hardly evade a sea-and-air three-dimensional encirclement and control." The navigation officer nodded and added: "If we could have surface warships cooperate with us by advancing forward to feint and divert the red force's attention, our chances of successfully penetrating their defenses would be much greater."
This exchange helped the officers and men emerge from the shadow of defeat and rebuild their confidence. Based on the after-action review results, the flotilla immediately coordinated with neighboring surface warship units, conducting in-depth research into tactics for submarine-surface vessel cooperation in underwater penetration operations, and repeatedly war-gamed tactical details such as feints, jamming, and cover.
As soon as this confrontation exercise began, the blue force's surface warships rapidly advanced forward, seizing the critical area between the red force and their own submarine to form a moving barrier, while simultaneously deploying equipment to jam the red force's submarine detection.
"Multiple suspicious signals detected." Inside the red force command post, upon hearing the target parameters reported from the sonar station, Yao Yanjun judged that this was the result of deliberate jamming by the blue force's vessels aimed at tearing open the encirclement. But precisely locking onto the submarine's signal from amid a large volume of clutter was no easy task. After a moment's deliberation, Yao Yanjun ordered his forces to split into two groups: one to continue tracking the blue force's vessels and signals, the other to remain in the core area and continue patrolling.
With the red force's strength dispersed, the detection intensity of the anti-submarine defensive line dropped sharply, and a gap appeared in the encirclement. Peng Zhong seized the fleeting opportunity and decisively commanded the submarine to advance covertly under silent propulsion, ultimately succeeding in breaking through the anti-submarine defensive line and reaching the designated attack position. As the torpedo "struck" its target, the blue force had won its comeback battle (翻身仗).
"Systems coordination (体系协同) is the key to battlefield victory. Close coordination with the surface vessels not only allowed us to break through the opponent's defensive line, but also helped us achieve a breakthrough in our operational concepts." Walking off the training ground, Peng Zhong said frankly: "When executing covert infiltration and close-in reconnaissance missions, we need to leverage the advantages of a single submarine's mobility and flexibility; but when facing complex situations such as full-domain encirclement and control (全域围控), we must rely on systems coordination (体系协同). When all is said and done, there is no all-purpose method or formula on the battlefield—only by responding to change with change can one handle situations with composure and defeat the enemy."
(At the request of those interviewed, some names in this article are pseudonyms.)