Originally posted by COOL HAND


No we are not. There are too many problems and dangers that are associated with a supercavitating propulsion system.

We are going in other directions, that is all that can be said.

Originally posted by Apollyon
about producing supercavition by charging the skin of the torpedo to free trapped gasses in the water.

Originally posted by jetsetter
We are. I have seen photos and read about it. Just go look.

Supercavitating weapons work in the U.S. is being directed by the Office of Naval Research (ONR) in Arlington, Va. In general, the ONR's efforts are aimed at developing two classes of supercavitating technologies: projectiles and torpedoes.

The first class of weapons is represented by RAMICS (for Rapid Airborne Mine Clearance System), a soon-to-be-requisitioned helicopter-borne weapon that destroys surface and near-surface marine mines by firing supercavitating rounds at them. The 20-millimeter flat-nosed projectiles, which are designed to travel stably through both air and water, are shot from a modified rapid-fire gun with advanced targeting assistance. (The fielded RAMICS projectiles are expected to be enlarged to 30-millimeter caliber.) Raytheon Naval & Maritime Integrated Systems in Portsmouth, R.I., is the chief contractor for RAMICS, and engineers at C Tech Defense Corporation in Port Angeles, Wash., developed the projectiles. The U.S. Navy is also considering deploying a surface ship–borne, deck-mounted RAMICS-type close-in weapons system that could destroy deadly wake-following torpedoes.

The next step in supercavitating projectile technology will be an entirely subsurface gun system using Adaptable High-Speed Undersea Munitions (AHSUM). These would take the form of supercavitating "kinetic-kill" bullets that are fired from guns in streamlined turrets fitted to the submerged hulls of submarines, surface ships or towed mine-countermeasure sleds. The sonar-directed AHSUM system is hoped to be the underwater equivalent of the U.S. Navy's Phalanx weapons system, a radar-controlled rapid-fire gun that protects surface vessels from incoming cruise missiles.

The other supercavitating technology of interest to the ONR is a torpedo with a maximum velocity of about 200 knots. Substantial technical and system challenges stand in the way of the desired torpedo in the areas of launching, hydrodynamics, acoustics, guidance and control, and propulsion, to name a few, according to ONR program manager Kam Ng. NUWC Newport is doing the applied research and some of the basic research work as well. The effort is supported by the Applied Research Laboratory at Pennsylvania State University (ARL/Penn State), the University of Florida, Anteon Corporation and Lockheed Martin.
Rest at www.diodon349.com...

"...a fully submerged launch of a supercavitating projectile (with air injected in its nose) with a muzzle velocity of 5082 feet per second was possible and became the first underwater weapon to break the sound barrier."

"...the US Naval Undersea Warfare Center (NUWC), in Newport, Rhode Island. ... established its own supercavitation programme ... In 1997 ... NUWC researchers announced they had gone supersonic. An unpowered projectile, with a carefully designed flat nose and fired from an underwater gun, broke the sound barrier in water. That's nearly 5400 kilometres per hour--or 1.5 kilometres per second. ... Already they aren't very far off the 2.5 kilometre-per-second speed record for conventional munitions in air..."

And to back the mention by skippytjc--IIRC "childish nationalistic poo-flinging":

Originally posted by skippytjc
The US is developing a mach 1+ torpedo as we speak. They have tested the speed and have broke the sound barrier already...YES UNDERWATER. They just cant steer it yet. It ejects gasses out the noze creating an ultra low resistance bubble around the torpedo. It literally slips through the water like a gas bubble.

I read about it in print, ill try to find some online documentation.

But imagine the possibilities!! Under water cruise missiles. How about cruise missles that traval underwater for a portion of its trip then rockets up out of the water to strike at the last moment.

The possibilities are endless. Heck, how about craft powered this way?

[edit on 9-12-2004 by skippytjc]