The B version is also the version that made the whole program so expensive. A lot of problems and such.
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Agreed...but in regards to the F35 being astronomically expensive, it’s not really that much more expensive than the F14 or F15 were for their time (accounting for inflation), and is not really that much more than something like a Block-70 F-16 Viper, or those new F-15X, or even a Typhoon.
A sonar, is what you need, and they can be used from ships, submarines, helicopters and planes. And sure, submarines are detectable, but, depending on which type of submarine, if it's a modern one or and old one, their detection can be a lot harder than you may think. The same way one develops technology to better detect submarines, others try to make their submarine quieter.
Just to add to the discussion about subs - while we like to poke fun at the capabilities of the Iranian airforce, make no mistake, their subs are no laughing matter. The Ghadir class subs are based on a North Korean design, and went into service in the late 2000s, so we’re not talking about some antiquated Soviet stuff left over from the Cold War.
Additionally, and perhaps contrary to common assumption, diesel electric subs like the Ghadir class are much much more quiet and difficult to detect than nuclear subs. I don’t know the details of why, but it has something to do with the nuclear reactor emitting a frequency that’s relatively easy to detect. The weakness of the diesel subs is that they have much shorter limits on how long they can stay submerged, unlike nuclear subs that can stay submerged basically indefinitely (modern US nuclear subs only need to surface to take on food for the crew, everything else is self contained. In wartime config, they can stay down for roughly 6 months, and that’s just what they release to the public).
As far as detecting subs, the primary methods are hunter/killer subs like the US Virginia class, sonars on surface vessels, along with sonobouys dropped by maritime helicopters and maritime patrol aircraft. I spent a summer at the RCAF’s maritime patrol squadron in Comox BC, right around the time when Iran started launching these new Ghadir class subs, and it was very much a hot topic of conversation, of which I was only allowed to be privy to tiny bits of. Crews from Comox regularly deploy to Diago Garcia in the Indian Ocean to partake in surface and submarine surveillance in and around the Gulf. It’s true that you can spot a sub from the air, but it’s basically the definition of looking for a needle in a haystack. The Iranians know the limitations of the environment they operate in, so they have ways of hiding the subs on clear blue sunny days. At night, and days with poor visibility is when they get the most active.
As far as the threat these subs pose, it is legitimate and cannot be dismissed lightly. Ever since the US Navy sunk the majority of the Iranian Navy in a single morning (Op Praying Mantis, April 1988), Iran has rebuilt its navy focused primarily on sinking a US carrier battle group passing through the straight, or trapped in the gulf. The Iranian strategy is focused on what is referred to as a “saturation attack”, with the goal being to overwhelm the battle group’s defences with sheer numbers, of both small fast boats and shore/air launched anti-ship missiles. The US and NATO have obviously run several war games simulating this exact scenario, and reports indicate that in one of these war games, a Swedish diesel electric sub was able to sneak through the defence network amidst the chaos of a surface saturation attack, and successfully managed to “sink” an American carrier. That said, most theories suggest that in order for the Iranians to successfully sink a carrier battle group, they would need to throw everything under the kitchen sink at it, and it would all be one-way trips...meaning, they’d have basically no navy and no airforce left....and the US would only be down one carrier battle group, of which they have several. Not a good long term strategy from the Iranian perspective.
