On the bridge of the helicopter carrier Izumo.
"Captain! Our towed sonar just detected a faint signal in deep water, but it disappeared almost immediately!" a radar operator reported.
"Oh? Target size and depth?"
"We estimate it was a small submarine, at a depth of 1,500 meters!"
"What? 1,500 meters?! Are you sure?" the captain asked in disbelief.
Ordinary conventional submarines generally operated at depths of 200 to 300 meters, while nuclear submarines could go beyond 400.
The deepest dive recorded for a nuclear submarine belonged to Bear's Akula nuclear-powered attack submarines. Five had been built, and their deepest dive reached 1,200 meters.
This was because Bear used double-hulled submarines, but diving depth did not actually translate into combat power!
Below 600 meters, the immense water pressure would damage weapons, so submarines had to rise above 500 meters to attack. America's latest Virginia-class submarines had a diving depth of less than 300 meters.
"Yes, Captain. Although we can't determine its precise location, the approximate data should be correct!"
"At that depth, it has to be Ghost Captain! We already suspected that he had extraordinary underwater capabilities. Now it looks like we were right!" Rather than panicking, the captain grew excited.
We're not afraid of you being powerful. We're afraid you won't show up!
The Izumo could carry more than twenty helicopters and launch up to five simultaneously!
Most of the helicopters aboard were SH-60K Sea Hawk antisubmarine helicopters.
These helicopter carriers had originally been intended to counter Rabbit's submarine forces, but this time they had been deployed specifically against Ghost Captain's underwater assets!
The two escort ships alongside them were not only equipped with large quantities of antiaircraft and antisubmarine weapons, but also carried deep-sea robots.
If they had been caught off guard last time, this time they had come