Posted on 04/03/2006 12:47:57 PM PDT by SmithL
TEHRAN, Iran -- Iran successfully tested its second new torpedo in as many days Monday, the latest weapon to be unveiled during war games in the Gulf that the military said are aimed at preparing the country's defenses against the United States.
A spokesman for the elite Revolutionary Guards suggested the new, Iranian-made torpedo was more powerful and capable of going deeper than others in its arsenal.
Gen. Mohammad Ebrahim Dehghani told state television the ship-launched weapon can target submarines at any depth and is powerful enough to "break a heavy warship" in two. He did not give the name of the new torpedo or any details of its speed or range.
The torpedo was tested in the Straits of Hormuz, the narrow entrance of the Gulf and a vital corridor for oil supplies.
The United States said that while Iran may have made "some strides" in its military, it is likely to be exaggerating its capabilities.
"We know that the Iranians are always trying to improve their weapons system by both foreign and indigenous measures," Pentagon spokesman Brian Whitman said in Washington. "It's possible that they are increasing their capability and making strides in radar absorbing materials and technology."
But "the Iranians have also been known to boast and exaggerate their statements about greater technical and tactical capabilities," he said.
The Revolutionary Guards, the elite branch of Iran's military, have been holding their maneuvers codenamed the "Great Prophet" since Friday, touting what they call domestically built technological advances in their armed forces.
A day earlier, Iran announced it had tested a different new torpedo the high-speed "Hoot," which means "whale." Iran said the Hoot, moving at up to 223 mph, was too fast for any enemy ship to elude....
(Excerpt) Read more at sfgate.com ...
As Carlos "The Mind" of Mencia would say
Liberals are already waving the white flag. A man I work with, who thinks we should 'give illegals a chance, after all we're a nation of immigrants' -- are you sick yet? -- looked extremely worried when I told him of the Iranian merv missile and new underwater bomb. Oh, we couldn't possibly do anything. We're overstretched in Iraq as it is. We can't touch Iran, and it's Bush's fault. (This fool is a rabid NPR listener).
I agree that we will always have our side doing intelligence work against our enemy.
The theory of using a gas bubble is not new. That is how we launch our submarine missles - but in an up direction. We use gas generators to create a bubble for them to ride to the surface and then the rocket motor ignites. To create a gas bubble as described in the article to travel sideways ahead of a torpedo (without a gas generator) still triggers my BS alarm.
Field test the MOABS...I paid for them, I want them used.
Hey, there's a blast-from-the-past! Remember the "elite" Republican Guard? You know, those guys that were supposed to pulverize our GIs into dust outside Baghdad?
The way they folded in a fight it would be prudent to re-name them the "elite" Democratic Guard
Has anyone asked how reliable this thing is, what its range is, how accurate it is, or what kind of platform its launched from?
No? Then I'll see their underwater rocket and raise them a plain ol' B-52 and some cruise missiles.
So there.
See "super cavitation" (to surround the weapon with gas bubbles, thereby virtually eliminating the drag problem). Also notice in the second comment, that the torpedoes can be posted on land to be fired at sea targets. It's apparently Russian hardware.
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1607940/posts?page=22#22
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1607940/posts?page=40#40
But it seems to me that such torpedoes would be very loud underwater, and our Navy has range and mobility. ...no doubt that our Air Force and Navy can completely neutralize the threat before it is even fired or even evade it if desired.
I hear they might have as many as three torpedos. OMG!
The problem for th Iranians is that to hit a target you have to get within range to strike it. I don't think the Torpedo boats Iran has in its armed forces would last 10 minutes when the starting flag go's down.
I think that they will be harpooned and quick.
Technically I don't see why you couldn't have a gas generator as a port on the solid fueled rocket that gives it the forward thrust....be a bit tricky, but them Russians are a pretty tricky bunch technically.
<p.
We had gas generators that ran the fuel pumps as apart of the liquid fueled rocket motors built by Aerojet for the Titan I project - years and years ago!!
I have the same image and fear our conflict with them will come only after they are proficient and nuclear armed.
just saw John Pike , Military Analyst with GlobalSecurity.org on Fox say this is a stunt, old Soviet technology from 20 years ago, not very accurate , even at close range much less distant targets.
D'Oh! One too many zeros. And thank you so much for pointing that out!
Freepmail 'Doohickey' if you'd like to join the FR submariner's ping list.
--disgusting part of the to-be test has been the idiotic response of assorted politicians of both flavors--
bump
This weapon is a 7500 yard one shot wonder.
I really doubt that it can change course at that speed, or use any acoustic gear to look for a target.
Their tactic is to fire it at the last known bearing of an enemy, and let it run up that bearing in hopes of hitting something.
All our guys need to do is change course from their original heading and get out of the way of it.
It seems to me this is a lot of hoopla about marginally effective weapon.
When a torpedo is in the water, you don't care about the noise. All you care about is closing range and bearing rate of the incoming torpedo.
This critter is designed to be a slap shot weapon. A quick return (revenge) shot after the enemy has already launched a conventional weapon. If the target returns fire (the slap shot), there's already all kinds of noise going on, so noise is not important. What matters is if the target has a good firing solution on you, or is he's just guessing and shooting back down the reciprocal bearing? ...
At 200 kts, Squall can cover its ~7,500 yd range in about 80 seconds. You'll have to identify it, get a bearing rate, then decide to dive, blow, or maneuver (, or not) in a very short period of time. You can't outrun it, you have to be where it isn't going to be.
A good outcome is not likely for either ship.
As a first launch weapon, it'll be a very bad thing to be down range.
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