Navy Fast-Attack Subs Fire Torpedoes Under Arctic Ice

U.S. Navy photo by Mass Communication 2nd Class Micheal H. Lee

By Kris Osborn – Managing Editor – Warrior Maven

Navy fast-attack submarines have been firing torpedoes beneath the Arctic ice as part of large scale effort to speed up preparations for war in the region in response to growing tensions with Russia and the increasing pace of melting ice.

During a recent US-UK ICEX exercise in the Arctic, the Seawolf-class fast-attack submarine USS Connecticut and the Los Angeles-class fast-attack submarine USS Hartford each fired several training torpedoes under the ice, a Navy statement said.

“The primary objective of this year’s ICEX is to test new under-ice weapons systems and validate tactics for weapon employment,” Ryan Dropek, Naval Undersea Warfare Center Division Newport, Rhode Island Weapons Test Director, said in a written Navy statement. “Once the divers recover these torpedoes, we can extract important data about how they perform and react in these conditions.”

While training torpedoes have no warheads and carry small amounts of fuel, they are useful in assessing the weapon’s performance in Arctic conditions. Overall, the ICEX exercises is designed to test combat and weapons systems, sonar systems, communications and navigation systems in a challenging operational environment.

“The unique acoustic undersea environment is further compounded by the presence of a contoured, reflective ice canopy when submerged,” a Navy statement said.

Several years ago, the Navy updated its 2009 Arctic Road Map which includes mission analysis and “fleet readiness” details for the Arctic environment. This included discussion of a need for more ice-breakers, a large-scale increase in deploying Navy ships to the Arctic and various research efforts to further ruggedize Navy ships for Arctic conditions.