Q&A ยท 2:51:43-2:52:16

What would make submarines obsolete?

Only reliable ocean transparency that removes the submarine's hiding advantage is expected to threaten the type's basic relevance.

Question

What could make submarines obsolete?

Short answer

True ocean transparency that eliminates underwater concealment, though that is not expected within roughly forty to fifty years without a breakthrough.

Notes

A submarine gives up much of a surface ship's capacity for active defenses in exchange for concealment. If underwater hiding became reliably impossible, that exchange would cease to make sense. Such transparency is not expected without a major technological breakthrough and is placed beyond the next several decades.