One of the issues with Surface Forces operating with Submarines is that the Submarines are far away from the Surface Forces (except in piece time operations). This is by design because 'Blue on Blue' is a real likelihood. There is no way for the friendly Surface (and Helos) to know that the submerged contact they are attempting to prosecute is Blue or Red, so everything is treated as Hostile, and no, the submarine cannot just come to PD and radio.. Things happen much to fast. In war time, the Helos will be shooting first, then asking questions later.
Having a Blue SSN in close proximity, would add that much more hesitation for the ASW commander of the surface group, attempting to make sure the contact is Blue and not Red, and if the the contact is Red, they might hesitate too long.....
U.S. SSN's are designed and trained to operate alone.
|