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"You're welcome. It was nothing," Mavi said, signaling to the two scientists that they should thank the Russian naval officers standing nearby. Without their permission, even Mavi, with all his abilities, couldn't have gotten three high-performance nuclear submarines at the same time.
"Mr. Yuan, to give your delegation a better experience, our Russian Navy has prepared a simulated sea battle. Would you all be interested in watching?" Mavi invited naturally.
This simulated sea battle wasn't a random, explosive show like the one before. It was a tactical military exercise designed to highlight the real-world advantages of a nuclear submarine.
The combat units involved included anti-submarine aircraft, anti-submarine ships, destroyers, and a conventional submarine for the other side. It was a truly impressive lineup.
"Oh? A simulated sea battle? We're very interested. Could you give us a brief introduction, Mavi?" Mr. Yuan Kaimin knew how impressive Russian military drills could be.
He had witnessed one before where a joint Ukrainian-Russian fleet had sunk a 50,000-ton battleship. He could still vividly remember the scene, as if he had experienced the battle himself. It was unforgettable.
"Of course, Mr. Yuan. The rules are simple. The three nuclear submarines in front of you will dive deep and then avoid detection by anti-submarine aircraft, anti-submarine ships, and sonar matrices. If they can successfully ambush the Sovremenny-class destroyer traveling with the fleet, they win. Otherwise, they lose."
The simulated sea battle Mavi described was a new concept for the Chinese delegation. It also allowed them to clearly see the capabilities of the Russian nuclear submarines.
After hearing Mavi's explanation, Dr. Wang and Dr. Li, the two scientists standing in front of him, looked at each other with a glimmer in their eyes.
Six years ago, their 091-class attack submarine was in a standoff with an American nuclear submarine in international waters. The American side, with the help of an anti-submarine aircraft, jammed their communications, which was a huge embarrassment for their navy and scientists.
The simulated battle Mavi had set up was exactly what they were trying to research: how nuclear submarines could evade annoying anti-submarine aircraft, anti-submarine submarines, and sonar matrices.
"Mr. Mavi, we are really looking forward to seeing your country's submarines in action!" Dr. Wang and Dr. Li said as the three nuclear submarines in the harbor gradually submerged. They would dive to a depth of over 450 meters and then launch a surprise attack while the enemy was searching for them.
Typically, such combat exercises were done using electronic simulations. That is, whether a target was hit or not was shown on the system. But the battle Mavi had arranged was obviously not that simple.
That was because the Sovremenny-class destroyer, marked as the "attackable warship," was an old, decommissioned vessel. It would follow the fleet to a designated area using an unmanned system. Then, the outcome would depend entirely on the skill of both sides—whether the nuclear submarines were discovered first, or if they managed to surprise and "kill" the destroyer.
This was a live-fire exercise. Mavi hadn't told the delegation this information. He kept it a secret so they could watch the outcome for themselves.
For everyone's safety, Mavi specially arranged an Mi-26 military helicopter for them to watch from. It had special blast-proof glass, allowing the Chinese delegation a clear view of the events.
As the helicopter's massive rotor blades roared, Mavi spoke to Mr. Yuan, who was sitting next to him. "Mr. Yuan, those ships on the sea surface are our Russian Albatross-class anti-submarine ships and Udaloy-class large anti-submarine ships. The Udaloy-class is equipped with the Blizzard-type quad-box anti-submarine missile launcher, which can launch 85R anti-submarine missiles with a range of 55 kilometers..."
Mr. Yuan Kaimin listened to Mavi with great interest. The Chinese delegation representatives in the cabin could also hear Mavi's words clearly through their shared frequency communication headsets, which provided both soundproofing and communication.
As Mavi was speaking, dozens of Il-38N anti-submarine aircraft, which had taken off from Russia's 1736 Air Base, joined the Pacific Fleet.
They were an upgraded version of the Il-38, capable of detecting ships within a range of 320 kilometers. In addition, the aircraft were equipped with new thermal sensors and advanced computers, and the performance of other on-board sensors was also significantly enhanced.
"Mr. Yuan, we'll enter the simulated combat zone in 10 nautical miles. When we do, those Il-38N anti-submarine aircraft in front of us will start dropping sonar buoys into the sea. At the same time, the anti-submarine submarines below the surface and the anti-submarine ships on the surface will activate their sonar matrices and electronic warfare systems to search for any suspicious movements beneath the water."
The electronic warfare system Mavi was talking about was the same tactic the Americans had used against the Chinese 091-class attack submarine. Back then, other countries' electronic equipment was not as advanced and didn't have anti-jamming capabilities.
Just as Mavi had said, after the helicopter had flown about 18 kilometers (1 nautical mile is 1.8 kilometers), the Il-38N anti-submarine aircraft in front of them began to drop sonar buoys into the sea.
At the same time, the special radar on the helicopter showed that the Pacific Fleet's sonar matrix had also been activated and was gradually covering the area below.
Seeing this scene, the Chinese navy personnel and nuclear submarine scientists in the cabin started discussing quietly. "Russia's Oscar-class missile nuclear submarine can dive to a maximum depth of 500 meters. The 971-class attack submarine can dive to 600 meters. But since the simulated combat area is limited, it's more advantageous for the anti-submarine fleet."
"As long as the fleet doesn't rush in and conducts a thorough, carpet-like search of the area, it will be very difficult for the nuclear submarines to launch an attack on that destroyer..."
Just as they were discussing this, suddenly, the radar showed that three anti-ship missiles were heading at an extremely high speed toward the Sovremenny-class destroyer marked as "attackable"!
Everything happened so fast that the Udaloy-class and Albatross-class anti-submarine ships, which were guarding the destroyer from a safe distance, didn't even have time to react! There was no time for them to launch anti-missile interceptors.
The Chinese delegation representatives were all shocked. They had no idea how the nuclear submarines had managed to evade the sonar matrix and launch a surprise attack.