supersonic torpedo ?

[vampiresquirrel]

Anyone remember about 5 years ago it came out that the soviets had
operational a supersonic torpedo ? I think I remember it had a stinger which
blew high pressure gass out in front so that the hull was always in the buggle and not touching the water. Has this been tried for hulls ?
Not sure what force keeps the torpedo hull centered in the bubble ...
maybe its going fast enough to get enough lift in the gass to do it ...
If supersonic it could be enough .......

On a boat hull it would seen the lack of symmetry would kill the idea.

Tim B.

[daiquiri]

It's the Shkval torpedo, and is not supersonic but supercavitating.

The directional control, if I remember well, is achieved by deflecting the nose plate (the purpose of the plate is to create a gas bubble which wraps around the torpedo downstream) and by the aft-mounted planing plates.

The torpedo travels inside a gas bubble created by the supercavitating nose plate. The body of the torpeedo doesn't touch the liquid water except for the nose and aft plates, the latter acting as planing surfaces against the walls of the bubble, holding the torpeedo inside the bubble.

More info here (for example): http://www.periscope.ucg.com/mdb-smp...w0004768.shtml

A curious but officially unverified thing is the unofficial claim that Shkval tests might have been, directly or indirectly, the reason for the Kursk submarine disaster. The submarine was reportedly carrying and testing this type of torpeedo.

Cheers!

[whitepointer23]

when a boat is planing is it not achieving the same goal.

[daiquiri]

Originally Posted by whitepointer23

when a boat is planing is it not achieving the same goal.

It does.

[baeckmo]

Daiquiri is correct here. The course-keeping surfaces of some of the the Schkval versions are working in "planing mode" on the inside surface of the cavity, which is mainly a vapour bubble in supercavitating state. One difficulty with planing control surfaces is their tendency to "bounce" between boundaries in two dimensions; resembling the one-dimensional porpoising phenomenon with a planing vessel.

[daiquiri]

Originally Posted by baeckmo

One difficulty with planing control surfaces is their tendency to "bounce" between boundaries in two dimensions; resembling the one-dimensional porpoising phenomenon with a planing vessel.

Unless they are shaped, and their extension controlled, in such way to be always in permanent contact with the surrounding bubble interface...? At the expense of a higher drag, it would allow a quick dampening of "porpoising" instabilities, imho.

[cthippo]

The speed of sound in water is 1236 km/h and the Shkval travels at about 370 km/h so, not quite supersonic.

The Kursk rumor makes sense as many sources state that the explosion on the sub was caused by a torpedo fueled by high purity hydrogen peroxide, of which the Shkval is one. The Russians claim that the explosion was caused by a type 65 torpedo, which is also powered by H2O2. There have been numerous accidents with H2O2 torpedoes in a number of navies.

[vampiresquirrel]

Yes our shallow media refered to it as "supersonic" !

[FAST FRED]

Yes our shallow media refered to it as "supersonic" !

Don't feel bad our Gov calls any rifle that has a Bayonet mount an "Assault Weapon"!

[troy2000]

Originally Posted by FAST FRED

Yes our shallow media refered to it as "supersonic" !

Don't feel bad our Gov calls any rifle that has a Bayonet mount an "Assault Weapon"!

During his campaign to become State Attorney General (before he became governor again), ads for our Governor Moonbeam (Jerry Brown) blasted his opponent for wanting to legalize "50 caliber assault rifles."

On the other hand, he owns three guns. And when the NRA sued Chicago to overturn its handgun ban, he filed a friend-of-the-court brief on the side of the NRA - arguing that if the court doesn't act, "California citizens could be deprived of the constitutional right to possess handguns in their homes."

Think that didn't tee off (and confuse) a few anti-gun activists?

[Acid house]

This may have worked on my torpedo........My Torpedo

[yipster]

in giz-mag i see JMS claims a supercavitating swath.
JMS states that "GHOST is a combination aircraft/boat that has been designed to fly through an artificial
underwater gaseous environment that creates 900 times less hull friction than water."
water is 854 times denser as air i calculated so thatmeans she be flying in a vacuum?
cant find the jet nozzles yet but hey, like to see her go

[FAST FRED]

"water is 854 times denser as air i calculated so that means she be flying in a vacuum? "

That vaccum pulls the boat forward with so much force that the engine is engaged to operate as a speed brake.

Fuel is constantly created and the only operational hassle is returning to port to empty the over flowing fuel tanks.

Almost as good as the GM VOLT.

FF

[DCockey]

Why the comment about the Volt? No one has ever claimed it creates fuel.

[daiquiri]

That thing creates fuel? All the world problems are resolved then!