Articles by Augusto Conte de los Ríos

Russia's large-scale invasion of Ukraine failed in its initial objectives and exposed significant weaknesses in various aspects of its Armed Forces. These vulnerabilities included aspects ranging from strategy, leadership, command and control, to training, logistics and material supply. The objective of this article is to analyze shipbuilding in the Russian Federation in the context of the current war in Ukraine, with special attention to large surface units and submarines. All this, also taking into account that in the face of the threat presented by Ukrainian anti-ship missiles and drones, only the latter have come out acceptably successful. (Continue…) Dear reader, this article is exclusively for paying users. If you want to access the full text, you can subscribe to Ejercitos Magazine taking advantage of our offer for new subscribers through the following link.

The F-110 or Bonifaz class frigates, already under construction, will represent a considerable leap forward for the Navy in terms of anti-submarine capabilities due to the quality of the equipment they comprise. Equipment that will also make it possible to take advantage of the principles of multistatism to increase the possibilities of detection, thus collaborating with other manned or unmanned vessels and with different types of aircraft. They will thus become the best argument of this institution when it comes to facing the renewed threat posed by submarines, whatever their origin and an international reference. A milestone in which the Spanish company SAES plays a fundamental role. In an article in the Proceedings of the United States Naval Institute (USNI) published in 2021 on the use of emerging technologies for anti-submarine warfare (ASW), the authors began the text with the following sentence: “The Navy needs new [Keep reading…]

Recent years have seen unprecedented changes, driven by the emergence of revolutionary technologies such as artificial intelligence, autonomous systems and advances in quantum computing. These technologies are not only reshaping the global security landscape, but also demand a re-evaluation of traditional strategies and tactics in the military sphere. In this context, the Navy is facing a critical crossroads, with the obligation to quickly adapt to these disruptive changes to maintain its relevance and effectiveness. (Continue…) Dear reader, this article is exclusively for paying users. If you want to access the full text, you can subscribe to Ejercitos Magazine taking advantage of our offer for new subscribers through the following link.

The People's Liberation Army Navy (PLAN) seeks to increase its presence and submarine dominance in the South China Sea against the US Navy and its Silent Service[1]. China has been working on improving its anti-submarine capability for the past few decades. Today, a fixed underwater surveillance network known as the “Great Underwater Wall” monitors the waters east and south of China, as well as submarine transit routes from Guam to Hawaii.[2] Recently, they have built a new class of double-hull surveillance vessel, similar in size and configuration to the US Navy's Impeccable class (T-AGOS 23), which is used to deploy SURTASS towed surveillance acoustic sensor systems (of the English Surveillance Towed Array Sensor System). These systems are complemented by aerial, submarine and surface platforms with active low-range sonars. [Keep reading…]

On September 8, North Korea announced the operation of its first submarine capable of launching nuclear missiles, which represents a significant advance in its military capacity and, specifically, for its nuclear program[1]. This new conventional submarine with the capacity to launch SSB ballistic missiles (Ship Submersible Ballistic), far from being a new ship, is a modernized model whose design dates back to the Soviet era and which has only now been equipped with several vertical launch tubes. VLS missiles (Vertical Launch System). (Continue…) Dear reader, this article is exclusively for paying users. If you want to access the full text, you can subscribe to Ejercitos Magazine taking advantage of our offer for new subscribers through the following link.

If the AUKUS alliance represented a small geopolitical cataclysm, the confirmation that Australia will in the future be equipped with up to 8 AUKUS class nuclear-powered attack submarines - or Commonwealth class, according to some - has come to certify the beginning of a new era for the Indo-Pacific region. Not in vain, the agreement reached by the United States, the United Kingdom and Australia will not only lead the latter country to enter the select club of countries with nuclear-powered submarines, but will also imply the permanent presence of British and American submarines in our antipodes. All this with the intention of compensating for the rampant naval growth of an increasingly threatening People's Republic of China. (Continue…) Dear reader, this article is exclusively for paying users. If you want to access the full text, you can subscribe to Revista Ejercitos taking advantage of our offer for new subscribers through [Keep reading…]