On a seemingly routine day in March 2015, the French nuclear attack submarine Saphir undertook a daring simulation that would send ripples across the naval defense community. During a joint exercise off the Florida coast, the Saphir achieved what many would have deemed implausible: a simulated “sinking” of one of the United States’ most formidable warships, the USS Theodore Roosevelt, alongside several of its escort vessels.
The incident, which unfolded before the Saphir’s operational deployment, involved two distinct phases of engagement. Initially, the Saphir integrated with U.S. Navy forces, participating in anti-submarine warfare (ASW) exercises to detect and report on simulated enemy undersea threats. This phase possibly involved tracking a Los Angeles-class nuclear submarine that was part of Carrier Strike Group 12.
The exercise escalated during the second phase, with the Saphir flipping allegiances to join the “enemy” force, simulating an attack on the USS Theodore Roosevelt’s Carrier Strike Group. With the assistance of U.S. Navy P-3C Orion and P-8 Poseidon aircraft, the Saphir managed to stealthily navigate its way through the carrier’s defenses, delivering the simulated coup de grâce to the Roosevelt and most of its escorts.
This exercise’s script may have been fictional, but it underscored a stark reality: even the smallest and seemingly outdated submarines can wield significant power against larger naval fleets through stealth and tactical prowess. The Saphir’s successful simulation revealed potential shortcomings in the carrier strike group’s ASW capabilities and the U.S. Navy’s overall readiness against undersea threats.
While the details of the exercise’s rules of engagement remain undisclosed, the simulation indicated that a single salvo from the Saphir’s F17 torpedoes could inflict notable damage, even if not outright sinking a vessel of the size and resilience of the USS Theodore Roosevelt. The Saphir’s torpedo warhead, weighing in at 551 pounds of high explosive, while lethal, might not be sufficient to sink a supercarrier or a Ticonderoga or Burke-class escort. However, the exercise illustrated the hypothetical damage inflicted on the carrier and its escorts, raising questions about the effectiveness of the carrier group’s underwater defenses.
The announcement of the French Navy’s blog post took place on Twitter on March 4th, however, it was swiftly removed. Numerous defense outlets noticed the deletion, and the state-sponsored RT (Russia Today) claimed that Saphir had managed to breach Roosevelt’s defenses due to a supposed “major vulnerability.” This claim was purely speculative since the original French Navy post did not make any reference to such a avulnerability.Nonetheless, it seems that the incident did occur.
The Saphir, being a second-generation Rubis-class nuclear attack submarine, may be one of the smallest nuclear combatants afloat, yet its performance during the exercise demonstrates that size does not equate to efficacy in modern naval warfare. With only 70 crew members and equipped with advanced torpedoes and anti-ship missiles, the Saphir proved that tactical acumen and stealth could level the playing field, even against a supercarrier.
The implications of this exercise resonate beyond a single event. They serve as a compelling wakeup call for the U.S. Navy, which has seen its anti-submarine warfare skills wane since the Cold War’s conclusion and post-9/11 focus on land engagements. The Saphir’s simulation victory may have been a sting to pride, yet it serves as a crucial lesson in humility and readiness.
Relevant articles:
– A Tiny French Submarine ‘Sank’ a U.S. Navy Aircraft Carrier In a Simulation, The National Interest, Feb 24, 2024
– In 2015, a 30 Year Old French Nuclear Submarine ‘Sank’ a U.S. Aircraft Carrier, The National Interest, Dec 31, 2016
– Gotland-Class: How a Tiny Submarine from Sweden Sank a Navy Aircraft Carrier, nationalinterest.org
– U.S. aircraft carrier and part of its escort “sunk” by French submarine during drills off Florida, The Aviationist