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07-25-2008, 07:28 AM
http://www.news.com.au/gallery/0,236...7150-2,00.html
The RAN and the US today tested a new MK 48, Mod 7 torpedo , which is is jointly developed by Australia and the US, but made in Australia.
The ship was due to be retired..so we retired her.
and down she goes
07-25-2008, 07:34 AM
Looks like she was a Spruance class destroyer...state of the art back in the 70's when I was in the Navy. I wonder what ship that was.
edit: Sadly my first ship, USS Halsey (CG-23), did not end her career in such a noble manner. I found out this morning that she was scrapped in 2003. However her legacy lives on in the new USS Halsey (DDG-97), an Arleigh Burke class Guided Missile Destroyer.
Last edited by Zathras; 07-25-2008 at 06:54 PM.
07-25-2008, 07:36 AM
We replaced the old Oberon class submarines with these
Collins class, diesel, primarily tasked with ocean interdiction and surveillance. The ORBAT for the US submarines fleet calls for a "hunter killer class" to protect US boomers. As we dont have boomers, our primary focus is on ocean surveillance and security..the Collins class will be perfect for a chiefly coastal role.
As an island nation, we think in serried layers, of both force projection and on long range interdiction..pirates, illegal fishermen and other sea borne intrusions. With hundreds of thousands of miles of coastline to monitor, the Mk 48 will be a perfect weapon.
On a previous thread, the FA 18 was discussed as well as the super Hornet...as Australia also does not have a carrier fleet, we need to add a long range, all weather and all aspect interceptor..which is why the JSF or the F22 is being considered as part of a layered strategic defence in depth.
The FA 18 is a specifically designed carrier based aircraft..and was never built to fly as a land based interceptor / air to air interdiction force for air superiority.
We need the best ACM aircraft we can get, combined with Navy surface vessels, submarine assets and long range, rapidly deployable mechanized infantry.
Increasing the sub fleet size is an option that is on the table..but our defence budget is a fraction of the US, we must think in terms of what can be used and deployed long term.
Last edited by Sonnabend; 07-25-2008 at 08:04 AM.
07-25-2008, 08:22 AM
First MK 48 Mod 7 CBASS Heavyweight Torpedoes Delivered to the FleetOriginally Posted by Sonnabend
http://www.news.com.au/gallery/0,236...7150-2,00.html
The RAN and the US today tested a new MK 48, Mod 7 torpedo , which is is jointly developed by Australia and the US, but made in Australia.
The ship was due to be retired..so we retired her.
and down she goes
The first warshot MK 48 Mod 7 advanced-capability common broadband advanced sonar system (CBASS) heavyweight torpedoes were recently delivered to the U.S. naval fleet and loaded aboard the USS Pasadena.
The MK 48 Mod 7 CBASS torpedo is the product of a joint engineering, development, manufacturing and support project between the U.S. Navy and Royal Australian Navy (RAN) will be the primary weapon aboard both navies' submarines.
According to RAN, optimized for shallow-water operations, the MK 48 Mod 7 CBASS is the world's premier submarine-launched torpedo.
Royal Australian Navy (RAN)
USA: RAYTHEON SYSTEMS AWARDED CONTRACT TO PROCURE UNDERSEA WEAPONS.(Brief...
Coupled with the AN/BYG-1 combat control system, also cooperatively developed between the Navy and RAN, the CBASS is a potent antisurface and antisubmarine weapon.
Officials from RAN added that the sonar enhancements make the torpedo effective in shallow waters and allow it to defeat different types of countermeasures in all environments.
Tewksbury, Massachusetts-based Raytheon Integrated Defense Systems (IDS) is the Navy's production supplier for the MK 48 Mod 7 CBASS. In addition, Raytheon IDS is the prime developer and systems integrator of the AN/BYG-1 combat management system for both the Navy and RAN.
http://findarticles.com/p/articles/m...2/ai_n21283719
07-25-2008, 08:41 AM
We did gooood :D :D
Oh yeah..shallow water engagement is one of our specialties. Y'can run..you cant hide :)Officials from RAN added that the sonar enhancements make the torpedo effective in shallow waters and allow it to defeat different types of countermeasures in all environments.
07-25-2008, 08:54 AM
lets see. What body of water in the world is shallow, surrounded by oil rich nations, could be closed at a choke point? Where oh where would this weapon work well? Oh Yeah, the Persian Gulf. The Iranian navy shlould be welded to the pier. If not, well, how long before reefs grow on sunken ships in that body of water?
07-25-2008, 08:55 AM
It should be You can run, but you will die tired.
07-25-2008, 09:22 AM
You haven't lived uintil you hear a Mk 48's ADCAP High speed
whine on your tail with it's 650 lbs high explosivel Warhead !
Recordings from live targets of tracking MK 48 in final guidance !
Mk 48 Specs.
General Characteristics, MK-48, MK-48 (ADCAP)
Primary Function: Heavyweight torpedo for submarines
Contractor: Gould
Power Plant: Piston engine;..
newer mods have a 'jet ski ' like pump jet
Length: 19 feet (5.79 meters)
Weight: 3,434 lbs (1545.3 kg) (MK-48); 3,695 lbs (1662.75 kg) (MK-48 ADCAP)
Diameter: 21 inches (53.34 centimeters)
Range: Greater than 5 miles (8 km)..
Double the navy specs to 10 miles .
Depth: Greater than 1,200 ft (365.76 meters)
Speed: Greater than 28 knots (32.2 mph, 51.52 kph)
Also about half the real max speed !
Guidance System: Wire guided and passive/active acoustic homing..
Swim Out mode with fiber guidance until tracking target
Warhead: 650 lbs (292.5 kg) high explosive
Date Deployed: 1972
Last edited by megimoo; 07-25-2008 at 10:24 AM.
07-25-2008, 09:46 AM
Thats not what it was designed for...oh it would work, no question.lets see. What body of water in the world is shallow, surrounded by oil rich nations, could be closed at a choke point? Where oh where would this weapon work well? Oh Yeah, the Persian Gulf.
But look at this
You're thinking combat and choke points as part of a suppression strategy..look at that map and see the bigger picture. That's why this was developed
Last edited by Sonnabend; 07-25-2008 at 09:51 AM.
07-25-2008, 10:34 AM
Torpedo Hit
On June 14, 1999, the submarine HMAS Farncomb fired its wire-guided Mk 48 torpedo at the decommissioned warship, the Torrens. The two "explosions" happened 1.3 seconds apart - two hits for the price of one. The plume of water and ship fragments shot 150 metres into the air. The Torrens split into two halves, and sank.
Listen to Great Moments in Science:
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One of the classic film images of sea battles is that of the torpedo slamming into the side of side of a ship, setting off a huge fiery explosion. That might have been true 60 years ago, but modern torpedos do not kill their targets by "hitting" them.
The American Mk48 is a heavyweight among torpedos. It first saw service in 1972, and latest hot model is called the Mk48 ADCAP (Advanced Capability). It travels at highway speeds, and has a range of around 40 km when doing 100 km/h, or 50 km at 75 km/h. It weighs around 1,600 kg (depending on the version) of which 267 kg are high-tech explosive, and which have the punch of half-a-tonne of TNT.
The Mk48 can be guided by a wire that reels out behind it, or it can find the target by itself. Once it gets close enough to the target, it first uses sonar to aim for the centre of the ship. When it's really close, it uses the magnetic signature of the target as a trigger to explode, when it's about 15 metres directly under its hull. The depth and location are quite critical. The 267 kg of high explosive almost instantaneously all turn into a huge volume of gas.
First, the actual explosion generates a very high pressure shock wave. This rams into the middle of the underside of hull of the ship at about 1.5 kilometres per second.
Second, the shock wave crushes the underside of the hull, and also lifts it up. It bends the ship bend upward in the middle, like a banana. The upper decks of the ship crack apart. After a few hundredths of a second, the shock wave has come and gone. But within a few more fractions of a second, the expanding bubble of gas from the explosion then hits the underside of the hull. The bubble reaches a maximum size of about 18 metres across, and it maintains the massive upward force on the bottom of the hull, once the shock wave has passed. So the ship is bent upwards in the middle in two stages - from the shock wave and then the expanding gas.
Third, after about half-a-second, the bubble (thanks to some fancy physics) begins to shrink. The ship then "sags" in the middle, and begins to "banana" in the other direction. This breaks the hull of the ship even more. Navy people call this sagging the "whipping" phase. It's actually very "useful" in breaking the back of a ship - after all, if you want to break a stick, it's much more effective to bend it back-and-forth, rather than bend it in only one direction.
Fourth, after about one second, the shrinking bubble has reached its minimum size, and begins to expand again. The water pressure around it is greatest directly underneath (being further from the surface) and least at the top (being closest to the surface). So it tends to expand upwards more than downwards - in fact, it pushes a lot of water upwards as a high-speed wall of water. This "bananas" the ship back in the first direction again.
Finally, the wall of water and the enormous bubble ram right through the hull. Combined, they can be powerful enough to completely rip the superstructure (that is, everything above the hull) clean off the ship, giving the appearance of a second explosion. The hull is often snapped into two separate halves.
But it would all be very different if the torpedo slammed into the hull of the ship, and then exploded.
A ship in battle mode makes all its separate compartments watertight by shutting all the doors. The damage would be immense in a few compartments, which would get flooded. But the ship would probably keep on floating, with a severe list to one side. The remaining crew could be evacuated, and the ship could even possibly be repaired.
So while a missile kills a ship by going "Bang" on the body of the ship, a modern torpedo kills a ship by going "Bang" underneath it.
http://www.abc.net.au/science/k2/moments/s1448475.htm
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