Spearfish torpedo.

[spearman_uk]

Is this torpedo's high speed modelled in Dangerous Waters?
Also do people have any ideas why Britain seems to be so far ahead with torpedo design??

[TLAM Strike]

Torps at high speed act buggy (slowing and sprinting for no reason) so it maybe not seem to be that fast. LWAMI mod set the speed to 55 knots so it acts somewhat correctly and gave it more accuate range to make up for the medium speed setting.

I don't think the Brittish are that far ahead in torpedo tech. They just bult one fish that can run extra fast at the expence of range. When the US MK 48 was designed the Sea Lance missile was on the drawing board (where it stayed:frown:) and the UUM-44 SUBROC was in the fleet having a 70 knot torpedo wasn't deemed nessary (althogh a MK 48 could probaly go around 60-65 knots) since a SUBROC type missile could hit the target much quicker. Also the Japanese MK 48 copy (the type 89) is quite fast, and the Russian APR-7E air droped torpedo is also in the speed range of the Spearfish due to its rocket-turbine propultion (not to be confused with supercavatation).

[Homer]

I would not characterize the British as "so far ahead".

Their previous torpedo, the Tigerfish, was more of a dog than a fish... so much so that during the Falklands war, they chose to use the ancient Mk VIII (a design from the 1920s) to sink the Belgrano. It took them 20 yrs to finally get the Tigerfish's reliablity to "acceptable levels".

The Spearfish also had a troubled development history and much like the Tigerfish, a record of reliablity issues. A series of fixes has improved the reliability to a "satisfactory level". The Spearfish does not use any exotic or revolutionary technology in its design (specs were probably drawn up 10-20yrs ago if the UK procurement cycle works anything like the one in the US).

There are couple of reasons why the Spearfish's numbers looks so apparently good. When compared to the previous generation, such as the Mk 48, it does use "newer" designs, such as a pump-jet propulsor and a turbine engine but they also have their drawbacks too. For example, speed is reportedly significantly reduced at deep depths because the pump-jet design cannot handle the large backpressures. Another reason would be political because around the time the Spearfish was ready for production, the MOD was hoping that it would be adopted as an European standard... so a little PR was in order. When you look at performance numbers of any weapon system, you have realise that those numbers are only what they are willing to disclose (this is another topic all together).

Dont get me wrong, I'm not trying to disparage British technology or her armed forces. In fact, they are more than capable of producing world-class equipment and I definately would not like to be facing the Royal Army or Marines. If you look closer, most problems (including the above torps) can traced back to the meddling and stupidity of the MOD, and not the fault of the makers or operators.