.After locking the speed and course, Major Ramons breathed a sigh of relief.

As the second captain of the SSN777 North Carolina, Ramons took over the submarine two years ago. If everything goes well, he will get a new job next year, perhaps a senior staff officer at the San Diego Submarine Command, or the captain of a strategic nuclear submarine. The former will allow Ramons to live a leisurely life and be promoted to brigade general before retirement. The latter requires Ramons to continue working in the frontline position for three to five years, but can win a star within ten years and a brighter future.

No matter which road it is, it is much better than staying on an attack nuclear submarine.

By the time he set sail from Guam, Ramons had planned his future. If he returned to the Submarine Command, he planned to have two more children and devote most of his energy to home. If he headed to the Strategic Nuclear Submarine Force, he hoped to convince his wife and give him a few more years.

What Ramons didn't expect was that this combat readiness patrol, which had not had many twists and turns, suddenly changed.

According to the orders received before departure, the North Carolina will go to the eastern waters of the Okinawa Islands to participate in the United States-Japan joint maritime exercises, then enter the East China Sea from the Osumi Strait, and go north to participate in combat exercises with the South Korean Navy, acting as an imaginary enemy of South Korean anti-submarine warships. After completing all combat readiness subjects, they will dock in Busan for five days and hold friendship activities with the South Korean Navy. When returning, they will also go to Yokosuka, where they will meet with the USS Washington, which is about to complete overseas deployment and prepare to return to the local area for mid-term overhaul.

If all goes well, Ramons will be reunited with his family in three months.

It was only on the third day of going to sea that an emergency order disrupted all arrangements.

The North Carolina was ordered to go to the South China Sea to join the Strait of Malacca and meet with the Roosevelt. The original mission was replaced by a sister boat coming from Hawaii.

Accompanying the "Roosevelt" to the Persian Gulf to carry out combat deployment missions?

Ramons was not depressed in the first few days.

Although the deployment time of the "Roosevelt" was as long as half a year, the continuous deployment time of the submarine was only three months at most. After completing the mission, the "North Carolina" will not return to Hawaii, and will travel through the Red Sea and the Mediterranean to the Atlantic Ocean, and return to the Norfolk Naval Base.

In this way, the family living in Richmond will not have to cross the United States and reunite with Ramons in Norfolk.

Things were not as smooth as Ramons imagined.

After rendezvousing with the Roosevelt, the North Carolina has been in front of the aircraft carrier battle group, carrying out forward anti-submarine escort missions. The Los Angeles-class attack nuclear submarine that has been accompanying the Roosevelt stayed near the aircraft carrier to provide close cover for the aircraft carrier.

This arrangement did not surprise Ramons.

The "Los Angeles" class attack nuclear submarine has become old and can be heard hundreds of kilometers away. Only by moving in the battle group can we use the noise generated by surface ships to cover up the noise emitted by the submarine itself and not be discovered by enemy submarines lying in ambush nearby.

Most importantly, the "Los Angeles"-class attack nuclear submarine has a quiet speed of only eight knots.

The quiet speed of the "North Carolina" exceeds twenty knots. Only this speed can always run in front of the aircraft carrier and not be caught by the aircraft carrier.

Things changed when passing through the Octades Strait at the southwest end of the Indian Peninsula.

Instead of sailing straight to the Strait of Hormuz, the Roosevelt deflected its course thirty degrees southward and heading to the northern waters of Socotra Island. The mission of the North Carolina also changed, from forward escort to flanking cover, that is, to move to the north of the aircraft carrier battle group to guard against the submarines of the Iranian Navy.

Ramons only received orders, not knowing why the operational deployment operations were changed.

In his opinion, no matter where the deployment is, as long as you survive three months, you can go back and reunite with your family.

In less than twenty-four hours, a new order made Ramons nervous: go south at full speed and intercept an unidentified attack nuclear submarine.

The order clearly states that the target is an attack nuclear submarine, not a conventional submarine.

This command is by no means simple!

In the world, only six countries have attack nuclear submarines. Among them, India's attack nuclear submarine was rented from Russia not long ago. It can only be used to train submarine officers and soldiers and cannot perform combat missions. The nuclear submarines of Britain and France rarely enter the Indian Ocean, and will not pose a threat to the US Navy.

The attack nuclear submarine either belongs to Russia or China.

Ramons immediately recalled the "Northodwinsk" that was very popular not long ago. This Russian Navy's latest attack nuclear submarine is very advanced. Not only does it overwhelm the "Los Angeles" class in performance, but some of it also exceed the "Virginia" class.

After thinking about it carefully, Ramons felt something was wrong again.

"North Devinsk" was delivered to the Russian Navy last year and has been testing in the Barents Sea. Not only is it impossible to come to the Indian Ocean, but it rarely leaves the near sea. It is always under the strict protection of Russian Navy surface ships. Besides, this submarine is not unfamiliar to the US Navy.

Since it is an "unidentified" attack nuclear submarine, it is definitely not the "Northodwinsk".

Could it be another type of attack nuclear submarine of the Russian Navy?

Ramons quickly ruled out this possibility because several attack nuclear submarines in service in the Russian Navy were designed and built during the Cold War and encountered many attack nuclear submarines by the US Navy. There was not much secret in performance. There was no reason to mark them in the order with "unidentified identity".

All possibilities are ruled out, and there is only one situation left.

That submarine belongs to the Chinese Navy and has only recently entered service. It has never encountered a new attack nuclear submarine with the US Navy.

It is definitely not a Class 093 attack nuclear submarine.

Although the Chinese Ministry of Defense officially admitted that three attack nuclear submarines codenamed 093 and the US Navy named it "Shang" class have been put into service, more than ten years ago, Cia had the information on the Chinese Navy's secret construction of new attack nuclear submarines, and the number of construction was not three, but six, respectively, deployed in the North Sea Fleet and the South China Sea Fleet. According to the usual practice of the Chinese authorities, when a certain weapon was announced that it had officially entered service, the next generation of weapons had begun to be developed and even secretly built.

More than a year ago, Ramons received news that at least one Class 095 attack nuclear submarine had been launched and delivered.

The only thing that can meet the "unidentified" standard is that the 095-class attack nuclear submarine may be that.

This made Ramons a little uneasy because it was not just him, but more than 50 captains of the US Navy's attack nuclear submarines, which were not aware of this new submarine covered with mysterious cotton yarn.

Ramons' concerns are not groundless, because the "Virginia" class is not unfamiliar to the Chinese Navy.

As the saying goes, only by knowing oneself and one’s enemy can one win every battle.

The current situation is that Ramons is not clear about his opponent's situation, but his opponent is very familiar with his situation.

What made Ramons even more worried was the "Virginia"-level performance.

As the first attack nuclear submarine designed and built after the Cold War, the Virginia class has fully adopted the advanced system of the Sea Wolf class, and has adopted many design ideas that are completely different from any previous attack nuclear submarine in response to the new combat environment of the new era.

Compared with the Los Angeles-class attack nuclear submarine, the Virginia-class weakens the speed, submarine depth and other performance against the deep-sea oceans, and strengthens noise control, weapon system management, sonar detection performance, etc., which can bring advantages to the submarine during offshore combat.

Although these performances can provide more tactical options for the Virginia class to a large extent, the cost of this, or the performance lost to reduce construction costs, makes the Virginia class unable to fight in the deep ocean, especially in deep seas with water depths of more than 1,500 meters, and it is difficult to pose a threat to faster and larger submarines.

As early as decades ago, the US military proved in a secret confrontation drill that, when the performance difference is not large, submarines with faster speeds and larger submarine depths can have an absolute advantage in deep-sea confrontation, leaving the opponent in a situation where there is no power to fight back. During the drill, the party that has the advantage in speed can always bite the opponent, while the party that is slower will find it difficult to get an attack opportunity even if it uses all its strength. It is precisely this that the "Los Angeles" class attack nuclear submarine with speed and submarine depth as the main performance indicators were born.

The Virginia class is designed for the offshore counterparts of conventional submarines and for special missions.

Unfortunately, the Arabian Sea where the North Carolina is located is a deep sea with an average depth of more than 2,700 meters and a maximum depth of more than 5,200 meters. After fifty nautical miles offshore, the water depth is more than 1,000 meters, which is very suitable for the appearance of "ocean" submarines such as the "Los Angeles" class.

Will the 095 class be an "ocean" submarine?

Ramons was not sure, but he didn't think there would be much deviation.

The Chinese Navy's mission is to prevent foreign interference forces, protect territorial waters and coastal towns, and to rely on the long-range deterrent power provided by submarines for a long time. Therefore, before growing into a long-term naval, submarines were the most effective, or even the only long-term denial force of the Chinese Navy.

The Chinese Navy's attack nuclear submarines must pay great attention to deep-sea performance rather than offshore activities.

The only thing Ramons can rely on is the excellent silent performance of the North Carolina, as well as powerful detection systems and long-range attack capabilities.

These three performances are also of great significance in ocean-going combat.

If you can discover the enemy boat first without being discovered by the enemy boat, you can take the initiative, approach it from a favorable direction, and then launch an attack unexpectedly.

Because the maximum speed does not have an advantage, it is necessary to avoid fighting with enemy boats.

After receiving the order, Ramons did not let the North Carolina move forward at full speed, but set the speed to twenty knots. Although General Electric Shipbuilding engineers insisted that the North Carolina could sail at a speed of twenty four knots and would not be discovered by other submarines a hundred kilometers away, Ramons did not believe these nonsense, because during a joint exercise with the South Korean Navy last year, the North Carolina was caught by a conventional submarine in a sun-Yuan-class sun-Yuan-class sunken under the sea, which made him feel embarrassed.

All conventional submarines can do it, and the Chinese Navy's attack nuclear submarines can definitely do it.

Ramons dared not be careless because he knew that any wrong decision could ruin the billions of dollars of submarine and more than one hundred submarine officers and soldiers.
Chapter completed!