UK Defence Forum

Spanish language version of Russian "news" agency Sputnik is claiming that Argentine submarine could have been sunk by a British mine leftover from the Falklands war. Given the fact that the British didn't use any sea mines during the Falklands war, this fake news story is very nasty...

https://sptnkne.ws/gbE8

..."It is possible that the explosive event registered in the area of ​​operations of the Argentine submarine ARA San Juan was caused by a deep-sea mine installed at the time of the Falklands War in 1982, Captain Vasili Dandikin told Sputnik.

"In 1982, the British submarines could have placed maritime mines near the Argentine coasts, the mine could remain in the bottom for 35 years, and once a storm disconnected it from the rope, it could have hit the San Juan", he theorized.

Aethulwulf wrote:Spanish language version of Russian "news" agency Sputnik is claiming that Argentine submarine could have been sunk by a British mine leftover from the Falklands war. Given the fact that the British didn't use any sea mines during the Falklands war, this fake news story is very nasty...

https://sptnkne.ws/gbE8

..."It is possible that the explosive event registered in the area of ​​operations of the Argentine submarine ARA San Juan was caused by a deep-sea mine installed at the time of the Falklands War in 1982, Captain Vasili Dandikin told Sputnik.

"In 1982, the British submarines could have placed maritime mines near the Argentine coasts, the mine could remain in the bottom for 35 years, and once a storm disconnected it from the rope, it could have hit the San Juan", he theorized.

Well, at least UK-Argentinian relations are so bad that even this false story can't ruin them any more...

abc123 wrote:Well, at least UK-Argentinian relations are so bad that even this false story can't ruin them any more...

Are they so bad? Certainly in the days of CFK they were, but with Macri we seem to be having a more constructive (read the Falklands aren't the first topic of every discussion).

In other news, the initial electrical fault which prompted the RTB order was water coming through the snorkel which caused a battery to short-circuit. That 'hydroacoustic anomaly' which has been talked about is being considered more and more to be the submarines implosion.

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2017/ ... rt-circuit

FYI

Sea water + sulphuric acid = hydrogen chloride gas.

Not a nice way to go.

“Hydrogen chloride forms corrosive hydrochloric acid on contact with water found in body tissue. Inhalation of the fumes can cause coughing, choking, inflammation of the nose, throat, and upper respiratory tract, and in severe cases, pulmonary edema, circulatory system failure, and death. Skin contact can cause redness, pain, and severe skin burns. Hydrogen chloride may cause severe burns to the eye and permanent eye damage.”

Source from Wikipedia

Smokey wrote:FYI

Sea water + sulphuric acid = hydrogen chloride gas.

Not a nice way to go.

“Hydrogen chloride forms corrosive hydrochloric acid on contact with water found in body tissue. Inhalation of the fumes can cause coughing, choking, inflammation of the nose, throat, and upper respiratory tract, and in severe cases, pulmonary edema, circulatory system failure, and death. Skin contact can cause redness, pain, and severe skin burns. Hydrogen chloride may cause severe burns to the eye and permanent eye damage.”

Source from Wikipedia

I once accidentally inhaled a tiny whiff of that in a school lab - took all the skin off the back of my throat even before the cough reflex cut in - very painful and unpleasant even in very small amounts

abc123 wrote:

Aethulwulf wrote:Spanish language version of Russian "news" agency Sputnik is claiming that Argentine submarine could have been sunk by a British mine leftover from the Falklands war. Given the fact that the British didn't use any sea mines during the Falklands war, this fake news story is very nasty...

https://sptnkne.ws/gbE8

..."It is possible that the explosive event registered in the area of ​​operations of the Argentine submarine ARA San Juan was caused by a deep-sea mine installed at the time of the Falklands War in 1982, Captain Vasili Dandikin told Sputnik.

"In 1982, the British submarines could have placed maritime mines near the Argentine coasts, the mine could remain in the bottom for 35 years, and once a storm disconnected it from the rope, it could have hit the San Juan", he theorized.

Well, at least UK-Argentinian relations are so bad that even this false story can't ruin them any more...

They don’t seem that bad, they’ve even accepted RAF help.

RAF plane lands in Argentina for first time since Falklands War to help search for missing submarine

An RAF plane has landed in Argentina for the first time since the Falklands War as it joins the search for a missing submarine.

The ARA San Juan disappeared about 300 miles off Argentina’s southern Atlantic coast last Wednesday after reporting a battery failure.

The UK and four other countries are helping Argentina in the search, while relatives of the submarine's 44 crew members have gathered at its base in Mar del Plata desperately awaiting news

https://www.standard.co.uk/news/world/r ... 99211.html

Argentina ends missing sub rescue mission
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-latin-america-42187139

Bit more context; the mission has transitioned from 'rescue' to 'recovery' with a number of nations withdrawing their assets. Brazil in particular had its ships return to port a few days ago I believe.

The Bitch has been indicted for treason.

http://en.mercopress.com/2017/12/08/jud ... use-arrest

Fan-bloody-tastic. Hopefully that lawyer who was killed (sorry, he shot himself hours before he was to testify against the government!) will finally see some justice.

When politicians need a scapegoat they look to the military.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-latin-america-42379720

Smokey wrote:When politicians need a scapegoat they look to the military.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-latin-america-42379720

Of course, he is guilty that defence spending last 15 years was mostly way below 1% of GDP...

http://www.janes.com/article/77575/arge ... owind-opvs

Allegedly the contract for 4 Gowinds will be signed in July.

I'll believe it when I see it...they're no threat to the RN, but it might be a recognition from the Argentinians that they do need some modern ships. Might be the usual bombast following a meeting with Macron. If DCNS have any sense they'll be asking for cash up front or staged payments...

I hope they get them, might add a little extra pressure on our politicians to increase defence spending

dmereifield wrote:I hope they get them, might add a little extra pressure on our politicians to increase defence spending

I also hope they do get them, but I would hardly consider them as some real threat to the FI.

I hear there's some River batch 1s going cheap....

Also think there might be momentum. To get their Act together after the sub sinking to at least update their fleet .so yes i think they might go for gowind or something instead of hot air this time

All the UK Government has to do is mention an SSN may be in the South Atlantic, as long as one is actually at sea and they wouldn't come out to play.

What is "Gowind-class OPV"?.

This?
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/French_pa ... L%27Adroit

Or this?
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gowind-class_corvette

I guess it is the former?

It is indeed the former, firm order expected in July. Priority to monitor illegal Chinese/NK fishing vessels.

Thanks a lot! So, it is something like coast-guard cutter, not a warship, and non-related to the Falkland Islands' defense.

Will all 4 be new builds or will they take the French one second hand plus 3 new?

donald_of_tokyo wrote:Thanks a lot! So, it is something like coast-guard cutter, not a warship, and non-related to the Falkland Islands' defense.

Indeed, although it remains to be seen how this will impact oil exploration activities in the region, they'll have the capacity to cause some mischief i'd imagine.

dmereifield wrote:Will all 4 be new builds or will they take the French one second hand plus 3 new?

New builds seemingly, they'll have a reduced fitout to help hit cost targets. 4 ships + options (up to 4).

I believe the significant distinction is whether a Gowind is built by Naval Group (Corvette) or Kership (OPV).

Caribbean wrote:I believe the significant distinction is whether a Gowind is built by Naval Group (Corvette) or Kership (OPV).

Indeed, as Don pointed out above.

All of the LatAm press is using OPV imagery and i've found French press describing the deal as being in partnership with Piriou, the extended janes article specifically mentions them as 87m too which would jive with the OPV wiki figures.

Either way, it's also been made clear (in the article) that whatever vessels they are, they're being offered with cheaper systems as they caused the arse to fall out of the deal last time.