Modern submarine concepts help clarify the older design problem. A diesel-electric boat can be exceptionally quiet but has a smaller radius of action and depends on an ambush position. It behaves like a mobile minefield, shutting down machinery and waiting for a target to enter its firing area. A nuclear submarine has the speed to detect a moving group, dash ahead of it, fire, and withdraw. Both are ambush predators, but their movement patterns create different search and screening problems for ASW forces.
Notable Point · 19:48-21:23
Diesel boats and nuclear boats hunt differently
A quiet diesel submarine can wait like a mobile minefield, while a nuclear boat can sprint ahead, attack, and escape.