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SUBMARINE WEAPONS
From the orignal Norfolk Naval Base web page at: http://www.norfolk.navy.mil/sublant/weapons.htm
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Submarine weapons include:
The MK 48 Torpedo is the standard U.S. Navy submarine launched torpedo, with the Advanced capability (ADCAP) version now in service. A highly capable weapon, the MK 48 can be used against surface ships or submarines, and has been test fired under the Arctic ice pack and in other arduous conditions. The ADCAP version, in comparison with earlier MK 48 torpedoes, has improved target acquisition range, reduced vulnerability to enemy countermeasures, reduced shipboard constraints such as warmup and reactivation time, and enhanced effectiveness against surface ships. The MK 48 is propelled by a piston engine with twin, contra-rotating propellers in a pump jet or shrouded configuration. The engine uses a liquid monopropellant fuel, and the torpedo has a conventional, high-explosive warhead. The MK 48 has a sophisticated guidance system permitting a variety of attack options. As the torpedo leaves the submarine's launch tube a thin wire spins out, electronically linking the submarine and torpedo. This enables an operator in the submarine, with access to the submarine's sensitive sonar systems, initially to guide the torpedo toward the target. This helps the torpedo avoid decoys and jamming devices that might be deployed by the target. The wire is severed and the torpedo's high-powered active/passive sonar guides the torpedo during the final attack. Torpedoes are carried internally in U.S. submarines and launched through fixed torpedo tubes. Up until now, all U.S. submarines have had 21-inch torpedo tubes. The SEAWOLF Class submarine will introduce the 30-inch tube to U.S. submarines which will continue to be able to launch the MK 48 as well as larger weapons. The torpedo tubes in U.S. submarines can also launch Tomahawk missiles as well as mines.
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The
Tomahawk is
a long-range cruise missile that can be used against surface ships or
land
targets, employing several different types of warheads. The missile
entered
service in submarines in 1983. Tomahawk missiles are launched from
standard
21-inch torpedo tubes and, in the later LOS
ANGELES class submarines, from 12 vertical launch tubes (in
addition
to the standard 4 horizontal tubes). The missile demonstrated its
accuracy
and effectiveness in the 1991 Persian Gulf conflict when 288 Tomahawks
were launched at tactical targets. Twelve of the Tomahawks were
launched
by two attack submarines, underscoring the submarine's ability to
participate
in multi-force strike operations. The
submarines - one operating in the Red Sea and the other in the eastern
Mediterranean Sea - were fully integrated into the coordinated attack
plan.
The Tomahawk is an all-weather, subsonic missile which, when launched
from
a submarine, rises to the surface and deploys small wings and starts a
small turbofan engine which propels it toward the target. The small
size
of the Tomahawk gives it a low radar cross section and its low-level
flight
profile makes it difficult to intercept. The Tomahawk Land Attack
Missile
(TLAM) is launched on a preset course above the water and, as it
crosses
over land, switches to an inertial and Terrain Contour Matching
(TERCOM)
system to guide the missile to its target with an accuracy measured in
feet. TLAM warheads consist of conventional high explosives (TLAM-C) or
scattering bomblets (TLAM-D). The Block III TLAMs now in production
have
an extended range and incorporate a Global Positioning System (GPS)
receiver
for improved reliability and time-of-arrival control to permit
coordinated
strikes between other missiles and aircraft. The GPS feature will also
make it easier for submarines to retarget the missiles while at sea,
thus
enhancing mission planning.
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The TRIDENT I
(C-4) is a submarine-launched ballistic missile (SLBM) developed to
replace
the Poseidon missile in existing strategic missile submarines and to
arm
the OHIO class SSBNs. Today it is
carried by the eight OHIO class
submarines
operating
in the Pacific. The C-4 missile was first deployed in 1979. The
TRIDENT C-4 is a long-range, multiple-warhead missile that is launched
from submerged submarines. Depending upon the number of warheads
carried,
it has almost double the range of the previous Poseidon missile. The
C-4
is a three-stage solid fuel missile which is powered only during the
initial
phases of flight. When the third stage is exhausted the missile follows
a ballistic trajectory. As the first stage motor ignites an aerospike
extends from the missile's nose, cutting the friction of the air
flowing
past the missile, thus extending its range. The third stage includes a
bus that aims and dispenses the warheads at separate targets.
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The TRIDENT II (D-5) submarine-launched ballistic missile (SLBM) is
the latest in a long line of U.S. Navy SLBMs that began with the famous
Polaris A-1 missile that first went
to sea on a strategic deterrent patrol
in 1960. The D-5 is the immediate successor to the TRIDENT C-4 missile,
with the newer weapon having an improved payload as well as greatly
increased
accuracy. It is fitted in the ninth and later OHIO
Class submarines. The missile became operational with the
deployment
of the USS TENNESSEE (SSBN 734) on deterrent patrol in March 1990. Like
the TRIDENT C-4, the D-5 is a three-stage, solid propellant missile,
carrying
a MIRVed warhead with separate weapons that can be targeted against
specific
targets.
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Naval mines are relatively low-cost and highly
effective weapons. Potent
ship killers, just the threat of mines can deter an enemy from sending
his surface ships or submarines into an area. Submarines can be highly
effective in the minelaying role as they are capable of covert
operations,
permitting them to enter waters normally denied to surface ships or
aircraft
because of enemy forces, bad weather, or ice. In past wars, a navy
often
discovered that an area was mined only after a ship entering the
minefield
was sunk or damaged. During the 1991 Persian Gulf War, two U.S. Navy
combatants
were severely damaged - more than $21 million in repairs - by Iraqi
mines
laid in areas previously thought to be mine free. Mines are difficult
to
locate and sweep. They can be set to activate only when a certain ship
signature - the ship's machinery sounds, movement through the water, or
hull metal - is detected. Ship-counts can be set in the mine to allow a
specific number of ships to pass before the mine fires.
Some mines are
bottom mines, placed on the seafloor, while others are moored mines
suspended
in the water with part of the mine serving as an anchor. Most attack
submarines
can carry and lay mines. These are launched through torpedo tubes and
replace
torpedoes or cruise missiles generally on a two-for-one basis. The U.S.
Navy today employs two principal types of mines from submarines, the
Submarine
Launched Mobile Mine (SLMM) and the enCAPsulated TORpedo (CAPTOR).
The
SLMM is a self-propelled, torpedo-like weapon that travels underwater
after
leaving the submarine and comes to rest on the seafloor at the end of
the
run. The mine is then activated and can attack passing surface ships or
submarines. This is the U.S. Navy's only self propelled mine, with an
electric
motor providing a range of some 17,000 yards. The SLMM became
operational
in 1983.
The CAPTOR is the Navy's principal anti-submarine mine. It can be laid by aircraft or submarine in medium-depth and deeper waters. When laid, the CAPTOR is anchored to the ocean floor and floats in the water column. It can detect the acoustic signatures of passing submarines while ignoring surface ships. Upon detecting a hostile submarine, the CAPTOR launches a MK 46 torpedo that homes on the submarine. CAPTOR became operational in 1979.
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