LouderVol
Extra and Terrestrial
- Joined
- May 19, 2014
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maybe it is real, maybe it isn't, but it seems far fetched.Chinese scientists close in on laser propulsion for superfast, silent submarines
Breakthrough overcomes decades-old problem of how to harness the technology to propel underwater vessels, according to paper.webcache.googleusercontent.com
well this aint good..and not April Fools..
@85SugarVol
1. its going to produce as much thrust as A commercial jet engine, trying to move something far far heavier, and in much more resistant media, and supposedly going to go the speed of sound or faster? for reference the fastest american subs do about 30 mph, but this is going to go 600+?
2. even if it does create the micro vacuums for super speeds, I don't see how that is going to completely remove water resistance, and seems like that would be a noisy (relatively) process. they would have to have those fiber optics literally everywhere displacing ALL the water around the sub.
3. even if the little vacuums do create a +mach speed I would assume you are still going to hear that water moving. I don't think sonic booms/breaking the speed of sound underwater works like it does in the air, but I still don't see how it will be silent. especially if you are relying on constantly displacing a certain amount of water to move.
4. unless they figure out how to slow it down just as fast as they accelerate it, its going to have extremely limited usage. They are going to have to completely rework any weapon system to go faster than their +mach, rework their targeting, going 200x the speed of your target means you are going to have to detect 200x further away to be able to aim at it. and with the super speeds you aren't going to be able to maneuver much, unless this magic tech somehow conquers that too.
5. at best I could see it being useful to blitz past a defensive line/screen, but at some point its going to have to move at normal speeds closer to targets, at which point its like any other submarine system. coastal/shallow waters would make traveling at high speeds suicidal at best.
6. seems like the light would also make it detectable. it may be a case of "too little too late" when it comes to that detection currently, but given that the chinese sub is likely going to have to drop speeds to work normally, it gives their enemies more of a chance in case it really is silent.
7. also seems like superheating the water is going to create steam, and would damage the system and the sub with usage.
8. I know all modern subs use certain materials to make themselves less detectable to sonar, are fiber optics going to give the same results?
lots and lots of questions.