Even if Burak-M's capabilities were limited to blocking the ability of these floating sensors to communicate with their launching aircraft and helicopters, it would still be a valuable addition to the overall countermeasures suite available to Russian submarines. Though anti-submarine warfare has evolved considerably since the end of World War II, sonobuoys remain a key tool for maritime patrol aircraft and anti-submarine helicopters. The U.S. Navy's latest P-8A Poseidon maritime patrol planes actually lack a magnetic anomaly detector (MAD), something that used to be a default for anti-submarine aircraft, in favor of an improved acoustic sensor system that includes sonobuoys.

During regular anti-submarine warfare operations, aircraft and helicopters will drop large sonobuoy arrays in order to fix the position of an opposing submarine and monitor its movements, something you can read about in more detail in this past War Zone piece. During an actual conflict, this might then allow the aircraft or helicopter orbiting above to directly engage the threat, or to feed that information to other assets, including ships and submarines in the area.

It is certainly possible for submarines to escape a sonobuoy net, especially nuclear-powered types or diesel-electric boats with advanced air-independent propulsion (AIP) systems, which can remain submerged for weeks or even months at a time. Improved designs with features to reduce their acoustic signature are difficult to detect in the first place. However, none of this completely eliminates the chances of being spotted and Burak-M would offer an additional option for a submarine looking to rapidly disengage from hostile aircraft or helicopters attempting to pin it down.

It's perhaps not surprising then that Izvestia said that the first submarines set to receive Burak-M would be the Russian Navy's ballistic missile boats, including the new Project 955 Borei and future Project 955A Borei-A classes, as well as the Project 677BDRM Delfin class, also known a the Delta IV class. It is critical to Russia's nuclear deterrent posture that these submarines remain as hidden as possible while on patrol to ensure their ability to launch nuclear retaliatory strikes, if necessary.