The problem of torpedo weapons is probably the most acute and painful of all the problems facing the Russian Navy today. On Voennoye Obozreniye, this problem has been raised for nearly ten years. For everyone interested in deeply familiarizing themselves with this problem, the author recommends a number of articles by Maxim Klimov: "Marine underwater weapons: problems and opportunities", "Arctic torpedo scandal", "Marine powerlessness", "" "About the appearance of modern submarine torpedoes." These materials outline the main problems, ways of solving them, suggestions and recommendations.
This article examines the Russian and foreign experience in the creation of torpedo weapons, studies the prospects for the development of domestic torpedoes, draws conclusions and makes recommendations.
So, in torpedo construction there are two competing directions: thermal torpedoes and electric torpedoes. The former are equipped with liquid fuel engines, the latter with electric motors powered by batteries. Consider the foreign experience in the creation of thermal and electric torpedoes.
Thermal torpedoes
USA
Torpedo Mark 48. Adopted by the US Navy in 1972, but since then has undergone a number of upgrades, allowing it to remain one of the most advanced torpedoes in the world. It has a caliber of 533 mm, an axial piston engine powered by Otto II fuel, instead of propellers - a water jet, a range of 38 km at 55 knots, 50 km at 40 knots, a depth of action - up to 800 m. Guidance system - passive or active acoustic guidance, there is telecontrol by wire communication.
Japan
Torpedo Type 89. Adopted in 1989. It has a caliber of 533 mm, an axial piston engine powered by Otto II fuel, a range of 39 km at 55 knots, 50 km at 40 knots, a depth of action of up to 900 m. Telecontrolled with a passive or active guidance system.
China
Torpedo Yu-6. Introduced into service in 2005. Caliber - 533 mm. The engine is an axial piston powered by Otto II, the range is 45 km at cruising speed, during the attack the torpedo can accelerate to 65 knots. Guidance system - passive or active acoustic guidance, also - wake guidance, telecontrol is possible. A feature of the torpedo is the ability to switch at any time between wired and acoustic guidance.
United Kingdom
Torpedo Spearfish with a caliber of 533 mm. It was put into service in 1992. The torpedo is powered by a water jet engine connected to the Hamilton Sandstrand 21TP04 gas turbine engine using Otto II fuel and hydroxylammonium perchlorate as an oxidizer. Range - 54 km, maximum speed - 80 knots. Guidance system - telecontrol and active sonar. The torpedo is highly resistant to acoustic counteraction and evasion maneuvers. If the Spearfish misses its target on its first attack, the torpedo automatically selects the appropriate re-attack mode.
Electric torpedoes
Germany
DM2A4 Seehecht - 533 mm torpedo. Introduced into service in 2004. The engine is electric powered by rechargeable batteries based on silver-zinc oxide. The range is 48 km at 52 knots, 90 km at 25 knots. The first fiber-optic torpedo. The shell of the seeker is a hydrodynamically optimized parabolic shape, which is aimed at reducing noise and torpedo cavitation to an absolute minimum. The seeker's conformal sensor array allows for +/- 100 ° horizontal and +/– 24 ° vertical detection angles, resulting in higher capture angles than traditional flat matrices. An active sonar is used as a guidance system.
In 2012, the export version of the DM2A4 Seehecht torpedo, the SeaHake mod 4 ER, broke all records in cruising range and reached more than 140 kilometers. This became possible thanks to the addition of additional modules with batteries, which led to an increase in the length of the torpedo from 7 to 8.4 m.
Italy
533 mm WASS Black Shark torpedo. Introduced into service in 2004. The Black Shark torpedo uses batteries based on aluminum and silver oxide as a source of energy. They supply electricity to both the propulsion motor and the guidance equipment. The cruising range is 43 km at 34 knots and 70 km at 20.
Target search and targeting is carried out using control equipment capable of operating automatically and by operator commands. The ASTRA (Advanced Sonar Transmitting and Receiving Architecture) acoustic guidance system can operate in active and passive modes. In passive mode, the automatic torpedo monitors the surrounding space and searches for targets based on the noise they produce. The ability to accurately determine the target noise and immunity to interference are declared.
In active mode, the guidance system emits an acoustic signal, the reflection of which determines the distance to various objects, including the target. As with the passive channel, measures have been taken to filter out interference, echo, etc.
To improve the combat performance and the likelihood of hitting complex targets, the Black Shark torpedo has a command control system via a fiber optic cable. If necessary, the operator of the complex can take control and correct the trajectory of the torpedo. Thanks to this, the torpedo can not only be aimed at the target with greater accuracy, but also be re-aimed after launching at another enemy object.
France
Torpedo F-21 caliber 533 mm. Introduced into service in 2018. Energy source - AgO-Al-based rechargeable batteries. The maximum range is over 50 km. The maximum speed is 50 knots. The maximum depth is 600 m. The guidance system is active-passive with telecontrol.
Domestic experience
Russia has experience in the production and operation of both electric and thermal torpedoes. Electric today are represented by the USET-80 torpedo with a caliber of 533 mm, which was put into service in 1980. The torpedo is powered by an electric motor powered by a seawater-activated copper-magnesium battery. The maximum range is 18 km, the maximum speed is 45 knots. The maximum depth of use is 1000 m. The guidance system is two-channel along the active-passive acoustic channel and the guidance channel along the ship's wake.
The path of this torpedo to the Navy from the very beginning was not easy. First, the torpedo received copper-magnesium batteries instead of the silver-magnesium batteries that were originally planned. The problem with copper-magnesium batteries is that they have never been tested for discharging on "cold water" in the Arctic. It is not excluded that USET-80 is generally not operational under these conditions.
Secondly, it turned out that the torpedo homing system often does not "see" the target. This problem became especially acute during tests in the Barents Sea, where shallow depths, rocky bottom, temperature drops, sometimes ice on the surface - all this creates a lot of interference for the homing system. As a result, by 1989 the torpedo received a new two-plane active-passive guidance system "Ceramics", which is reproduced on the domestic element base of the SSN from the American torpedo developed in the 1960s.
Thirdly, the efficiency of the torpedo motor is very low, strong sparking on the collectors, powerful pulsed radiation, which interferes with the operation of the electronics. That is why USET-80 has a short target acquisition range with the seeker.
Today USET-80 is the main torpedo of Russian submarines.
Thermal torpedoes in our fleet were represented by the 65-76A torpedo with a caliber of 650 mm. The increase in caliber was made for the possibility of installing a nuclear warhead. The torpedo was powered by a gas turbine power plant running on hydrogen peroxide, instead of propellers, a water jet was used. The maximum speed of the torpedo, according to various sources, reached from 50 to 70 knots, the cruising range was up to 100 km at a cruising speed of 30-35 knots. The maximum depth of use of the torpedo is 480 m. The homing system is active, determining the wake of the target. Telecontrol is not provided. The current status of the torpedo is unknown: according to official data, it was removed from service after the sinking of the Kursk nuclear submarine in 2000, which, according to official data, was again caused by the accident of the 65-76A torpedo. According to other sources, the torpedo is in operation to this day.
Prospects for domestic torpedo weapons
It cannot be said that the Ministry of Defense does not understand the need to adopt modern torpedoes. The work is in progress. One of the directions is the development of a universal deep-water homing torpedo "Physicist" / "Case". This work has been going on since 1986. A torpedo with a caliber of 533 mm has quite modern characteristics: a cruising range of up to 60 km, a speed of up to 65 knots, a depth of use up to 500 m. The torpedo guidance system detects submarines at a distance of 2.5 km, surface ships at a distance of 1.2 km. In addition to the homing mode, the torpedo has telecontrol by wires with a range of up to 25 km, as well as a course-following mode (with a given number of knees and flaps).
To reduce noise and increase maneuverability at the initial stage of the path, the UGST is equipped with two-plane rudders, which extend beyond the caliber of the torpedo after it leaves the torpedo tube.
The status of the torpedo is currently unknown. There is evidence of its acceptance into service, but data on serial purchases of UGST "Fizik" / "Case" have not been reported to date.
Another promising development of the Russian torpedo industry is the UET-1 universal electric torpedo, developed by the Dagdizel Plant JSC (Kaspiysk) within the framework of the Ichthyosaur design and development project. The torpedo has a caliber of 533 mm, cruising range - 25 km, speed - up to 50 knots, detection range of underwater targets - up to 3.5 km (versus 1.5 km for USET-80), in addition, the torpedo is capable of detecting the wake of surface ships with a life time of up to 500 seconds. No telecontrol data available. According to the latest data, UET-1 is already in serial production and in 2018 a contract was signed for the supply of 73 torpedoes to the fleet until 2023.
conclusions
Comparison of the basic armament of our submarine forces (USET-80 torpedoes) with modern models of both thermal and electric torpedoes demonstrates just a catastrophic lag of our Navy behind the fleets of the leading countries of the world.
1. Our torpedoes have almost 3 times less range.
2. Have a low speed - only 45 knots.
3. They do not have telecontrol.
4. They have a CCH with a short target acquisition range and low noise immunity.
5. Have problems with performance in the Arctic.
Some improvements were achieved as a result of the Ichthyosaurus development work on the UET-1 torpedo. Progress in the torpedo launcher is obvious, and the transport characteristics have improved somewhat. However, in comparison with the best examples of electric torpedoes, the UET-1 still looks pale in terms of range. It can be assumed that it was not possible to create a large-capacity battery for the torpedo. This looks plausible, given the state of our electrical industry, as well as the fact that the development of the torpedo was carried out by Dagdizel on its own initiative.
A means that can, if not eliminate, then significantly reduce the gap with the leading manufacturers of torpedoes, is the development and adoption of the UGST "Fizik" / "Case". This torpedo cannot be called “unparalleled in the world,” but it is a completely modern and dangerous weapon for enemy submarines.
It is obvious that in the near future we should follow the path of creating thermal torpedoes, improving and developing the Physicist. Thermal torpedoes have a number of advantages over electric torpedoes: thermal torpedoes are cheaper, since they do not have an expensive battery, have a longer service life (the service life of batteries produced by the Russian industry is about 10 years, after which torpedoes are written off), unlike electric torpedoes, they can be reused many times. The latter is very important, since an increase in the number of torpedo launches is extremely necessary to improve the quality of training of our submarine crews. For example, the Americans in 2011-2012 fired Mark 48 mod 7 torpedoes more than three hundred times. There are no exact statistics on the training of our crews, but it is obvious that our submariners have much less practice in torpedo firing. The reason for this is the lack of rechargeable thermal torpedoes.
There is an opinion that the submarine detection distances are small, so long torpedo launch distances are not needed. However, it should be borne in mind that in the process of maneuvering during a battle, an increase in the distance between submarines is possible, and the Americans, for example, are specially practicing "breaking the distance" in order to be outside the range of our torpedoes. Thus, the low characteristics of torpedoes put our submarines in a very difficult position, leaving them practically no chance against submarines of a potential enemy.
Long-range torpedoes are needed not only against submarines. They are also needed against surface ships. Of course, there are anti-ship missiles against ships that have a much greater range than torpedoes. However, it is necessary to take into account the noticeably increased quality of the air defense / missile defense of the ships of the potential enemy. It is unlikely that 4 "Caliber" fired from the submarine of Project 636 "Varshavyanka" will be able to break through not only the air defense orders, but even the air defense of a separate modern frigate. For example, an air defense frigate of the "Saxony" type can simultaneously coordinate the flight of 32 missiles on the march and 16 at the terminal stage. In addition, the launch of the anti-ship missile system unmasks the submarine and puts it on the brink of death from enemy ASW aircraft.
But to attack the order of ships with torpedoes, without revealing their position, as the Gotland-class diesel-electric submarine crew did during the Joint Task Force Exercise 06-2 exercise in 2005, when the entire seventh AUG, led by the aircraft carrier Ronald Reagan, was conditionally killed. multipurpose nuclear submarine … Israelis and Australians achieved similar results on their diesel-electric submarines. So the use of submarines armed with torpedoes against NK is still relevant. Only the most low-noise submarines and modern torpedoes are needed.
Thus, the issue of torpedoes is the most pressing issue in the modern history of the Russian Navy. Moreover, modern torpedoes were needed yesterday, because today we are commissioning new "Varshavyanka", "Ash", "Borei", introduce … conditionally combat-ready ships that are almost unarmed against submarines of a potential enemy! We have no right to send our submariners to an almost inevitable death without a chance not only to complete a combat mission, but also to simply survive. The problem of creating modern torpedoes must be solved. There is a scientific and technical groundwork for this. You need to tackle the problem with determination and work diligently until it is completely resolved.
