Uboats managed just fine during the 1940's out in the middle of the ocean. The things that stopped them were air patrols, radar and constant active sonar use.
With those things in mind, what's stopping a KILO from transiting on the surface or snorkeling to a patrol zone or choke point?
If advanced knowledge of a convoy or even just a single ship is available, it's pretty easy for them to just sit there and wait to be overrun.
And with radar detection abilities, they can detect any aircraft or ships with radar on long before they can be spotted visually (or on radar for that matter).
It's not worth underestimating the usefulness of an Iranian kilo.
We are basically talking about a sub that is far better than a type 21 electric uboat, and although western technologies have improved drastically, the element of surprise has remained the same since ww2. If a sub commander knows where a ship is going to be, he can sit there and wait at 1 knot for days until he's ready to attack passing ships.
|