welcome back china and russia are both building up their sub fleets
and potential conflict areas in the black sea south china sea
and under the arctic circle mean it possible submarine warfare could make a comeback
if the nato and russian or chinese fleets clash here's what will decide who comes out on top
f-21 heavyweight torpedo the f-21 is a relatively new torpedo being fielded by the french navy
it can swim at speeds of 25 to 50 knots for an hour while searching for an enemy sub
since it uses a quiet electric battery to power itself through the water
it allows french subs to fire at the enemy without giving up their own position
mk 54 lightweight torpedo the u.s and allied navies have one of the best light torpedoes
in the world in the mk-54 it has a 96-pound warhead guided by a torpedo that can ignore
enemy countermeasures and home in on an enemy sub at 40 knots it can be launched from ships
helicopters and planes and reaches deep enough to kill all known subs
improved schwall underwater missile the schval is a russian weapon that
moves under the surface like a torpedo but is generally referred to as a missile or rocket
because it creates a pocket of air to move through in the water this reduces friction
and allows it to fly through the water at speeds of over 230 miles per hour a 463 pound warhead
then detonates after a set time destroying nearby enemy submarines or incoming torpedoes
rum-139 slash ru are five anti-submarine rockets anti-submarine rockets are fired
from a navy ship into the water where the missile then deploys a torpedo
this allows the torpedo to start chasing the sub from relatively close reducing enemy reaction time
it also allows ships to fire torpedoes from a much greater range than would normally be
possible currently u.s navy anti-submarine rockets carry the mk-54 torpedo described above
some ships used to carry rockets with the mk-45 nuclear torpedo described below
anti-submarine mortar anti-submarine mortars and grenades are the shotgun of anti-submarine warfare
a few dozen rounds are fired at once in sync through the water detonating against
the submarine hull with a contact fuse they're lethal and short-range fights that could occur
in a fjord or c channel but their limited range means an enemy submarine would have
the advantage in a long-range fight where the subs missiles and torpedoes could be launched
mk-45 and t5 nuclear torpedoes during the cold war both the us and russia developed nuclear torpedoes
while they aren't in service today they're still some of the most effective weapons for killing an
enemy submarine they could also kill the firing sub so they're not great weapons just effective
the russian t5 in the video above carried a 3.5 kt nuclear warhead the
u.s mark 45 had an 11 kt nuclear warhead both torpedoes were steered into position
and detonated via command wire between the torpedo and launching submarine you