Kalistani Major History

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Republican Proving Grounds in Sudanor to begin researching new torpedos
Goal is to surpass 27 nm effective range and guidance systems of current Kalistani technology
Sulari, Suldanor
October 20, 5337


KRS 268, Indica Class submarine of the 3rd Regular Fleet returns to Yoshimi Station last year following Exercises

The Ministry of Defense has contracted with KALMILINCO to begin designing a new torpedo capable of exceeding the specs of the current Mk92s used on Kalistani subs.

"We are launching a major effort to develop a new torpedo," said KALMILINCO spokeswoman Claire Trevino. "Our current standard heavyweight torpedo design has an effective range of about 27 nautical miles. The Mk92s have been in service for a very long time, and we believe that current technology will permit us to design a new torpedo that can not only move faster than the current range at 40 knots, but also differentiate between decoys and countermeasures and an actual target. If we can keep distance and increase speed and accuracy, that will be a secondary goal of the project, but ultimately, we need a larger range torpedo that will allow our submarines to fire, maneuver, and go silent before enemies are even aware they have been fired on."

A number of factors affect torpedo targeting and target acquisition, that this project aims to address. "Kalistani submarines tend to deploy from shallow waters, where finding them is difficult. A sortie will leave the continental shelf and set in ambush along a known route of travel. But seawater has a nasty habit of scattering electromagnetic frequencies, which could other wise allow for more accuracy in targeting. It also provides a significant impediment to aquadynamics, and without a reliable gyro system, can cause a well aimed torpedo to go wildly off course. There are additional challenges, such as the need to carry propellant, and the limitations that creates for range."

Trevino suggested some modifications could be made to materials and the engine to allow the torpedo to carry more propellant. "More propellant will not by itself increase the range significantly. You would theoretically have to have a torpedo twice as long to get an appreciable improvement in range." Trevino also suggested that researchers will be working on new new engines that uses propellant more efficiently "... to squeeze more distance out of the same fire," and better targeting systems to allow for fewer course corrections on the way to the target.

"We know that the maximum distance and the max effective distance are two wildly different things. The amount of unexpended propellant in a torpedo when it it impacts is sometimes as much as 20%. If we could use even half of that, we could stretch the max effective range out to almost 3 additional nautical miles. That's before any of the other efficiencies we have talked about, and that comes with more accurate targeting, both on the torpedo itself, as well as on the firing computers onboard the subs," said Trevino. Targeting enhancements include onboard sonar tracking, as well as machine learning to allow a torpedo to differentiate a target from its countermeasures as well as proximity fuses that do not arm torpedos until they are close to a target at the waterline.

All these modifications to torpedo technology can help Kalistan close in on its target laid out in the new revised Strategic Doctrine of allowing subs to become more agile and operate out farther from Kalistani shores. "The goal is to make our submarines more deadly, and to deny the enemy the opportunity to respond before they have been hit, hopefully crippled or destroyed," said Trevino. "We are not interested in a fair fight. If Kalistan is going to be attacked in the near future, it won't be with a force equal to ours: It will be overwhelming force. Therefore, we will likely get one chance to thin the ranks. We want to make our sub fleet as deadly to our enemy at sea as our artillery is to them on land. Increasing range, speed and accuracy of our torpedos is just one way Kalistan's national security can be enhanced before any enemy even arrives in Kalistan.

The KALMILINCO project is expected to take up to 2 years to complete, after which time testing in a service setting will begin. Meanwhile, the Republic is also looking into possibly developing a new submarine design that is smaller, allows subs to hide in shallower waters and operate for longer without detection. "We hope to enlist the help of international naval engineers in the development of a new submarine design," said Trevino. "That project is still in the planning phase at the moment."