Cuando se esconden en lo profundo de la inmensidad del oc\u00e9ano, los submarinos de EEUU capaces de lanzar misiles bal\u00edsticos son pr\u00e1cticamente invulnerables. Pero atracados en los puertos, o navegando en la superficie, estos poderosos pero fr\u00e1giles barcos pueden resultar blancos f\u00e1ciles de batir para drones a\u00e9reos y navales e incluso cohetes antitanque.<\/p>\n
When hidden deep in the vastness of the ocean, America\u2019s ballistic missile subs are practically invulnerable.<\/p>\n
But berthed in port \u2014 or sailing on the surface while transiting to and from port \u2014 these powerful yet fragile boats can be sitting ducks for drones, mines and even anti-tank rockets.<\/p>\n
What once seemed the plot of thriller novels has become reality. Ukraine claims it successfully used an underwater drone to damage a\u00a0Russian submarine<\/a>\u00a0in the Black Sea port of Novorossiysk last year. Guerrillas and terrorists lurking along a waterway could use anti-tank guided missiles or handheld anti-tank rockets to ambush an unwary sub.<\/p>\n To face the new threat, the U.S. Navy is looking to develop better methods of protecting its missile subs, as well as the shore installations that support them.<\/p>\n These defenses include \u201cprototype technologies to detect, track, identify, deny, and defeat unmanned systems across all domains,\u201d according to a Sources Sought\u00a0announcement<\/a>. \u201cThis area seeks scalable solutions for shore-based installations and afloat operations in Port, Harbor, Littoral, and Waterways (PHLW) and open ocean environments.\u201d<\/p>\n The Navy is also searching for ways to escort and protect its missile subs as they transit to and from port.<\/p>\n The goal is to \u201censure the zero-failure secure movement of strategic maritime assets,\u201d the announcement said. \u201cThis area seeks advanced maritime situational awareness, physical security enhancements for escorting SSBNs [nuclear missile subs], and the detection, avoidance, and mitigation of maritime mines, and the defeat of direct-fire kinetic threats (e.g., shore-launched ATGMs\/RPGs) during transit through PHLW to and from dive points.\u201d<\/p>\n