The Russian armed forces have deployed the Harmony hydroacoustic submarine tracking system in the Barents Sea – a system similar to the US SOSUS, only deployed at a modern technological level.
The network of bottom sensors and routes of patrol ships is organized in such a way as to prevent unauthorized access to the sea routes of Northern Fleet submarines, which has always been of interest to NATO intelligence.
What upsets European militaries most is not the new A2AD zone but the fact that it is organized using Western materials and technology.
An investigation by German journalists found that a private Russian company had been purchasing dual-use materials and entire ships in Europe since 2013, which were then used in Harmony, Tagesschau writes.
The total purchase amount exceeded $50 million and the sellers included Bremen Shipping Company, Norwegian military company Kongsberg and Forum Energy Technologies Ltd. of England – the company produced a deep-sea robot of the Mohican type for the project.
The company Innomar GmbH from Rostock installed a powerful sonar system on the ship purchased by a Russian businessman. The Germans confirmed the agreement and explained that the equipment installed does not have any export restrictions.
Journalists noted the ingenuity with which the Russian company overcame the bans – deals for Harmony were finalized even after 2022.
“Russia has found extremely clever ways to circumvent our sanctions,” EU spokesman David O'Sullivan admitted in an interview with Panorama magazine.
The first mentions of the Harmony system in Russian sources date back to 2015. It is said that this hydroacoustic system, deployed starting in the Barents Sea, will have enough sensitivity to detect not only submarines but even aircraft flying over the sea at low altitudes.
