Recently, China launched the first submarine-themed promotional film "Hidden in the Deep Sea", submariners as the most mysterious in the Chinese Navy, the highest degree of secrecy of the military, we can usually access only a handful of public information, and now there is a direct propaganda film, the degree of amazement can be imagined.
In the propaganda video, it was disclosed for the first time, China's subversive submarine equipment, torpedo tube launch unmanned underwater vehicles, which is a super technology that the US military has not realized, and China has not only realized but also successfully used it in actual combat. According to the details revealed in the Chinese Navy's "Hidden in the Deep Sea" promotional video, the Chinese Navy's unmanned underwater vehicle is launched using torpedo tubes, and after launching, a control cable is dragged at the tail, which looks like a wire-guided torpedo.
An unmanned underwater vehicle is generally composed of a skeleton and a buoy, a propulsion system, a navigation control system and a detection system, and is an unmanned system that can perform tasks autonomously underwater.
The density of seawater is 800 times that of air, and for every 10 meters of water depth, the pressure of water increases by 1 atmosphere, and below 30~50 meters above sea level, sunlight cannot penetrate, and darkness envelops everything. There are also unscrupulous undercurrents and undercurrents in the seawater, and the seabed landform is even more intriguing and magical. It is far from enough to just "survive", and the unmanned underwater vehicle also has to dive, float, sail, and locate in such a complex and harsh environment, and complete various missions entrusted to it, so the development of unmanned underwater vehicles has been a world problem.
In terms of survivability, concealment, risk tolerance, cost and cost of use, etc., compared with manned submarines have a great advantage, in the past, manned submarines can only use submarine-launched self-propelled mines to lay mines outside the enemy's early warning range, in contrast, unmanned underwater vehicles are more difficult to detect, in case of destruction, the losses caused are relatively limited, so mines can be transported closer to the enemy.
Unmanned underwater vehicles (UAVs) offer a new means of blocking strategic sea lanes, hostile national ports, shipyards and maritime trade hubs. Unmanned submarines can cooperate with nuclear submarines, and because unmanned submarines are better than submarines in terms of size, power, acoustomagnetic characteristics, and other stealth characteristics, they are not easy to be discovered by the enemy. Unmanned underwater vehicles are dispatched to obtain information and attack the enemy, and submarines carry out command and surveillance from a long distance, thus enhancing the concealment of their own actions and making it difficult to expose their tactical intentions; unmanned underwater vehicles can approach the enemy to carry out operations, thus enhancing the clarity of reconnaissance and achieving the concealment and suddenness of the attack.
According to the volume, unmanned underwater vehicles can also be divided into: light class (SUUV about 45 kg), medium class (MUUV, about 1500 kg), large class (LUUV, about 10 tons), and ultra-large class (XLUUV, more than 40 tons). The larger size means that they have a longer range and can carry more equipment, and the ultra-large unmanned underwater vehicles can even carry torpedoes, mines and other weapons of mass attack.
Therefore, ultra-large unmanned underwater vehicles can not only work in synergy with nuclear submarines, but also carry out tasks ranging from auxiliary and support tasks such as anti-mine, reconnaissance and surveillance, hydrographic survey, seabed exploration, underwater communications, and serving as decoys or false targets; to more complex and direct military operations such as anti-submarine, anti-ship, strikes against shore targets, special operations, and strategic deterrence.
The U.S. military fully recognized the strategic value of unmanned underwater vehicles, and once put forward the development goal of realizing one-third of the unmanned combat platform in 2010, trying to carry out "zero casualties" asymmetric operations in the future through technological superiority, but this goal was ultimately not achieved.
However, these unmanned underwater vehicles can only be carried by special working submarines (such as "Poseidon"), or can only be carried by special release devices or working motherships, and the US military has also used the way of submarine attachment and launch of unmanned underwater vehicles, but this requires changes to the shape and structure of the submarine, which damages the underwater mobility and concealment of nuclear submarines.
The United States also tried to launch and recover unmanned underwater vehicles with torpedo tubes, but it was unsuccessful, while China has succeeded in mastering this disruptive technology.
The use of torpedo tubes to launch unmanned underwater vehicles does not require modification of the hull of nuclear submarines, but can also carry more numbers and types of unmanned underwater vehicles, so as to meet the needs of different tasks, and can undertake reconnaissance, anti-submarine, anti-mine and other tasks. Through the development of cooperative operations and small swarm operations, we will build an all-round unmanned combat system and build an unmanned underwater vehicle swarm.
This new launch method can effectively break through the enemy's defense line and carry out forward reconnaissance and covert infiltration and sabotage operations. Unmanned underwater vehicles and drones can detect both the seabed and in the air, and are more stealthy, with the advantage of avoiding casualties and reducing the risk of intelligence leaks.
How to reduce the underwater navigation noise of submarines as much as possible and thus avoid being discovered by the enemy's anti-submarine warfare forces has always been one of the important issues in the development of submarines. The torpedo tube launch unmanned underwater vehicle can keep the submarine in a stationary state, difficult to be detected, and collect all kinds of data and information at the same time, and grasp all the situation in the relevant waters in real time.
Not only that, the unmanned underwater vehicle will also have a certain function of deceiving the enemy or even hard killing, the former can deceive the use of passive sonar guidance of self-guided torpedoes by sending noise signals, or deceive the torpedo operator of the enemy submarine, and the latter can even achieve torpedo interception by directly hitting and detonating the opponent's torpedo.
Unmanned underwater vehicles launched through torpedo tubes, unmanned underwater vehicles are small in size and low noise, and can even be masked by the noise emitted by ocean currents, which has excellent underwater navigation concealment, and can suddenly launch a "wolf pack offensive" against enemy ship formations. After a successful strike, the submarine fired a heavy torpedo to destroy it.
When attacked, unmanned underwater vehicles can simulate one's own submarines to induce and deceive the enemy's antisubmarine forces and cover one's own submarine combat operations; they can also be used as bait to lure enemy submarines into their own ambush areas to encircle and annihilate them.
It can be said that the launch of unmanned underwater vehicles through torpedo tubes will change future naval warfare, and how to develop more new tactics requires our PLA to explore on its own in actual combat.