Winston
Lorenzo von Matterhorn
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U.S. Navy Looking To Arm Its Subs With Tiny Torpedoes That Intercept Incoming Torpedoes
The compact weapons could give subs substantially greater magazine depth, a hard-kill anti-torpedo countermeasure, and more.
11 Apr 2019
https://www.thedrive.com/the-war-zo...y-torpedoes-that-intercept-incoming-torpedoes
The mini-torpedo has a Stored Chemical Energy Power Systems (SCEPS) power system for its propulsor in the rear. SCEPS works by bathing a solid block of lithium in sulfur hexafluoride gas, creating an extremely energetic chemical reaction that, in turn, produces steam to drive a turbine engine. In use in torpedoes for years already, this helps make the smaller CVLWT accelerate very fast, reaching fifty percent of its unspecified top speed in less than 12 seconds on average.
At six and three-quarters inches in diameter and approximately 85 inches long, the CVLWT is significantly smaller than the latest variants of the Navy’s Mk 48 heavyweight torpedo, which is the standard weapon of this type for its submarines now. The Mk 48s are around 21 inches in diameter and 228 inches long. The mini torpedo’s typical weight, around 220 pounds, is also more than 16 times lighter than its heavyweight counterpart. So we are truly talking about a tiny torpedo here.
The Navy has already developed multiple variants of the CVLWT, the best known of which is the Countermeasure Anti-Torpedo (CAT), also called the Anti-Torpedo Torpedo (ATT). This is a defensive “hard-kill” interceptor that is supposed to destroy incoming torpedoes by either slamming into them or destroying them with its explosive warhead.
The interceptor also features a sonar seeker capable of operating in active and passive modes, together with a guidance package that also includes an Inertial Measuring Unit (IMU). The IMU provides data that allows the torpedo to make more precise movements, making it more maneuverable and improving its accuracy.
The Compact Rapid Attack Weapon (CRAW) has much of the same hardware, the bulk of which consists of Commercial Off-The-Shelf components to help keep production costs and maintenance requirements low, according to public Navy briefings and other documentation, but is optimized as an offensive weapon against other submarines. Both variants could offer important capabilities for various American submarines.
At present, American submarines use a combination of electronic warfare jammers and acoustic decoys to defeat incoming torpedoes. This works well against threats that use active and passive sonar to home in on their targets.
More advanced torpedoes, however, which feature sensors to detect differences in water density to zero in on the wake a ship or submarine churns up as it moves, are immune to acoustic decoys and are jamming resistant. These wake-homing torpedoes have been a major impetus for the Navy to develop a hard-kill anti-torpedo interceptor in general, especially for high-value ships, such as aircraft carriers. In recent years, concerns about existing and future torpedo threats have similarly led to a push to add a torpedo interceptor capability to submarines, according to The War Zone's trusted sources.
But the anti-torpedo torpedo concept remains very much in development. In September 2018, the Navy formally halted work on the Anti-Torpedo Torpedo Defense System (ATTDS) for surface ships. The service had already installed examples of this system on five Nimitz-class aircraft carriers and is now removing all of them.
The compact weapons could give subs substantially greater magazine depth, a hard-kill anti-torpedo countermeasure, and more.
11 Apr 2019
https://www.thedrive.com/the-war-zo...y-torpedoes-that-intercept-incoming-torpedoes
The mini-torpedo has a Stored Chemical Energy Power Systems (SCEPS) power system for its propulsor in the rear. SCEPS works by bathing a solid block of lithium in sulfur hexafluoride gas, creating an extremely energetic chemical reaction that, in turn, produces steam to drive a turbine engine. In use in torpedoes for years already, this helps make the smaller CVLWT accelerate very fast, reaching fifty percent of its unspecified top speed in less than 12 seconds on average.
At six and three-quarters inches in diameter and approximately 85 inches long, the CVLWT is significantly smaller than the latest variants of the Navy’s Mk 48 heavyweight torpedo, which is the standard weapon of this type for its submarines now. The Mk 48s are around 21 inches in diameter and 228 inches long. The mini torpedo’s typical weight, around 220 pounds, is also more than 16 times lighter than its heavyweight counterpart. So we are truly talking about a tiny torpedo here.
The Navy has already developed multiple variants of the CVLWT, the best known of which is the Countermeasure Anti-Torpedo (CAT), also called the Anti-Torpedo Torpedo (ATT). This is a defensive “hard-kill” interceptor that is supposed to destroy incoming torpedoes by either slamming into them or destroying them with its explosive warhead.
The interceptor also features a sonar seeker capable of operating in active and passive modes, together with a guidance package that also includes an Inertial Measuring Unit (IMU). The IMU provides data that allows the torpedo to make more precise movements, making it more maneuverable and improving its accuracy.
The Compact Rapid Attack Weapon (CRAW) has much of the same hardware, the bulk of which consists of Commercial Off-The-Shelf components to help keep production costs and maintenance requirements low, according to public Navy briefings and other documentation, but is optimized as an offensive weapon against other submarines. Both variants could offer important capabilities for various American submarines.
At present, American submarines use a combination of electronic warfare jammers and acoustic decoys to defeat incoming torpedoes. This works well against threats that use active and passive sonar to home in on their targets.
More advanced torpedoes, however, which feature sensors to detect differences in water density to zero in on the wake a ship or submarine churns up as it moves, are immune to acoustic decoys and are jamming resistant. These wake-homing torpedoes have been a major impetus for the Navy to develop a hard-kill anti-torpedo interceptor in general, especially for high-value ships, such as aircraft carriers. In recent years, concerns about existing and future torpedo threats have similarly led to a push to add a torpedo interceptor capability to submarines, according to The War Zone's trusted sources.
But the anti-torpedo torpedo concept remains very much in development. In September 2018, the Navy formally halted work on the Anti-Torpedo Torpedo Defense System (ATTDS) for surface ships. The service had already installed examples of this system on five Nimitz-class aircraft carriers and is now removing all of them.
