26-10-2003, 00:10
As all 44 square miles of our nation is on top of or underwater, we need a good navy and airforce. Here are our requirements-
Aircraft-Fighters and Attack
-Must be capable of short runway takeoff
-Preferably VTOL/VSTOL
-Must be capable of in flight refueling
-Attack aircraft must be able to mount anti-ship weapons
Naval Ships-
-Frigates destroyers, and Cruisers only. I can't afford carriers and battleships are useless and pointless
-Frigates should be as stealthy as possible
-Must have VLS tubes
-Must use RAM or Barak, no CIWS only ships
And our design idea-
Supercavitating torpedoes have existed for decades… The next logical step is to create a manned supercavitating craft.
Supercavitating subfighters will be the ‘Tomcats of the deep’, patrolling the oceans at over a thousand miles per hour. Launched from carriers, Deep Angel envisions these subfighters deciding who really rules the seas. They offer numerous advantages over aircraft. They can turn off their engines, loiter indefinitely, silent, undetectable. Aircraft launched to intercept them will circle aimlessly overhead, unable to target them. They will attack who they want, when they want.
Like aircraft since WWII, subfighters will rule the oceanic battlefields. Three quarters of the world is ocean.
Guidance presents one of the largest obstacles for supercavitating craft. Early versions of the Shkvals are thought to be ‘straight shooters’ capable only of flying in a straight line. Supercavitational bullets are also by their very nature unguided. The ability to successfully steer a supercavitational craft presents perhaps the most difficult aspect of fully utilizing the technology. Any control surface within the bubble will have little or no affect on the direction of the craft.
Steering a supercavitational craft creates the dual problems of both having to steer the bubble, and manipulating the bubble when turning to keep the craft in the supercavity. The latter is essential since if the fuselage were to come into contact with the ocean outside the bubble, then the force of suddenly hitting a wall of water would instantly crush it.
The solution envisioned in our project to steer the bubble is accomplished using wing like ‘fins’ which extrude from the fuselage and extend beyond the supercavitational bubble. Whilst these would cause some increase in friction, they have the far greater benefit of allowing the supercavitational bubble to be steered. The fins would operate as control surfaces which could steer the bubble, and have the additional benefit of stabilizing the craft within the inherently unstable supercavitational bubble.
The ability to control and manipulate the supercavitational bubble is also essential in both increasing maneuverability and to stop the crushing of the craft as it turns. The bubble creating cavitator at the nose of the craft would have to be capable of quickly changing its position and angle to both ensure the bubble is always encasing the craft and to compensate for varying water pressure as the craft’s depth changes.
Steering is aided through the use of thrust vectoring on the exhausts of the rocket engines, similar to current day proven systems used on the F-22 or SU-37 fighter jets. It has been widely speculated that thrust vectoring would greatly increase the maneuverability of supercavitational craft. The thrust vectored nozzles direct thrust both horizontally and vertically to allow much tighter turns and angles of attack, and assist the fins in effectively steering the bubble.
Cavitation in conventional marine craft is so dreaded because it can cause extensive damage to propellers as the bubbles implode. Fortunately, the decrease in the supercavitational bubble, as long as it is controlled, would not have such an effect. A gradual slow down has the effect of progressively reducing the size of the supercavitational bubble, gradually exposing the fuselage to greater amounts of friction.
As such as long as there is not a sudden collapse of the bubble, no damage is expected in leaving the supercavitational bubble.
--Kalitha Defense Forces--
Aircraft-Fighters and Attack
-Must be capable of short runway takeoff
-Preferably VTOL/VSTOL
-Must be capable of in flight refueling
-Attack aircraft must be able to mount anti-ship weapons
Naval Ships-
-Frigates destroyers, and Cruisers only. I can't afford carriers and battleships are useless and pointless
-Frigates should be as stealthy as possible
-Must have VLS tubes
-Must use RAM or Barak, no CIWS only ships
And our design idea-
Supercavitating torpedoes have existed for decades… The next logical step is to create a manned supercavitating craft.
Supercavitating subfighters will be the ‘Tomcats of the deep’, patrolling the oceans at over a thousand miles per hour. Launched from carriers, Deep Angel envisions these subfighters deciding who really rules the seas. They offer numerous advantages over aircraft. They can turn off their engines, loiter indefinitely, silent, undetectable. Aircraft launched to intercept them will circle aimlessly overhead, unable to target them. They will attack who they want, when they want.
Like aircraft since WWII, subfighters will rule the oceanic battlefields. Three quarters of the world is ocean.
Guidance presents one of the largest obstacles for supercavitating craft. Early versions of the Shkvals are thought to be ‘straight shooters’ capable only of flying in a straight line. Supercavitational bullets are also by their very nature unguided. The ability to successfully steer a supercavitational craft presents perhaps the most difficult aspect of fully utilizing the technology. Any control surface within the bubble will have little or no affect on the direction of the craft.
Steering a supercavitational craft creates the dual problems of both having to steer the bubble, and manipulating the bubble when turning to keep the craft in the supercavity. The latter is essential since if the fuselage were to come into contact with the ocean outside the bubble, then the force of suddenly hitting a wall of water would instantly crush it.
The solution envisioned in our project to steer the bubble is accomplished using wing like ‘fins’ which extrude from the fuselage and extend beyond the supercavitational bubble. Whilst these would cause some increase in friction, they have the far greater benefit of allowing the supercavitational bubble to be steered. The fins would operate as control surfaces which could steer the bubble, and have the additional benefit of stabilizing the craft within the inherently unstable supercavitational bubble.
The ability to control and manipulate the supercavitational bubble is also essential in both increasing maneuverability and to stop the crushing of the craft as it turns. The bubble creating cavitator at the nose of the craft would have to be capable of quickly changing its position and angle to both ensure the bubble is always encasing the craft and to compensate for varying water pressure as the craft’s depth changes.
Steering is aided through the use of thrust vectoring on the exhausts of the rocket engines, similar to current day proven systems used on the F-22 or SU-37 fighter jets. It has been widely speculated that thrust vectoring would greatly increase the maneuverability of supercavitational craft. The thrust vectored nozzles direct thrust both horizontally and vertically to allow much tighter turns and angles of attack, and assist the fins in effectively steering the bubble.
Cavitation in conventional marine craft is so dreaded because it can cause extensive damage to propellers as the bubbles implode. Fortunately, the decrease in the supercavitational bubble, as long as it is controlled, would not have such an effect. A gradual slow down has the effect of progressively reducing the size of the supercavitational bubble, gradually exposing the fuselage to greater amounts of friction.
As such as long as there is not a sudden collapse of the bubble, no damage is expected in leaving the supercavitational bubble.
--Kalitha Defense Forces--