[Capitalist]

New technology could allow submarines to travel from Shanghai to San Francisco in two hours

CHINESE scientists claim they have developed the technology that could allow a submarine to travel from Shanghai to San Francisco in super speed.

The team from the Harbin Institute of Technology was inspired by a supersonic torpedo invented by the Soviet Union during the Cold War, according to the South China Morning Post.

Water yields more friction on an object than air, which should mean that a submerged boat or weapon could never travel at the same speed as an aeroplane.

But the Soviet military figured out how to put a missile inside an air bubble to cheat this rule of science — a process known as supercavitation.

They created the Shakval, a torpedo that could reach speeds of over 379 kmh, much faster than any other torpedo available.

The Chinese team, led by engineering professor Li Fengchen, sought to apply the same process to a submarine by overcoming two central problems.

The submarine would need to be launched at speeds of up to 100 kmh in order to generate the air bubble.

It would also require very advanced steering because the ship’s rudder would be inside the bubble, not touching the water.

The answer was found in the form of a man-made liquid membrane that would cover the submarine’s surface.

The water would eventually tear the membrane away, but it would allow the ship to reach the speeds necessary for supercavitation.

The membrane would also create new levels of friction and make steering a lot easier.

Li told the South China Morning Post “Our method is different from any other approach, such as vector propulsion. By combining liquid-membrane technology with supercavitation, we can significantly reduce the launch challenges and make cruising control easier.”

The result is a vessel that could reach the speed of sound, crossing the entire Pacific Ocean in approximately 100 minutes.

Once supercavitation is harnessed, it could be incorporated into any underwater activity.

Li said: “If a swimsuit can create and hold many tiny bubbles in water, it can significantly reduce the water drag; swimming in water could be as effortless as flying in the sky.”

Not much is known about the team’s progress because it is a military project, but the SCMP reports that Germany, Iran and the US are working on similar endeavours.

Source

Assuming this is ever built, what would happen to the whales and dolphins?

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[SolarCross]

Q. Assuming this is ever built, what would happen to the whales and dolphins?

A. The submarine equivalent of roadkill.

Dolphins are quite smart though and have good long range underwater senses so they might be able to get out of the way in time.

[Potemkin]

Dolphins are quite smart though and have good long range underwater senses so they might be able to get out of the way in time.

If the submarine is travelling faster than the speed of sound in water, then their sonar would be useless to them. They wouldn't stand a chance.

Meh, who cares? Fuck 'em. That'll teach 'em to abandon dry land for the sea all those millions of years ago. Losers.

[SolarCross]

If the submarine is travelling faster than the speed of sound in water, then their sonar would be useless to them. They wouldn't stand a chance.

yeah good point.

Meh, who cares? Fuck 'em. That'll teach 'em to abandon dry land for the sea all those millions of years ago. Losers.

Whoa you channelling the ghost of the Special Olympian?

Meh I get like that sometimes. A noisy minority these days seems to spend their every waking moment trying to make everyone else's heart bleed for everything: equal rights for lesbian vegetative cyclist crustaceans! Down with the imperialist nose pickers cruelly dispossessing boogars from their natural habitat! on an on.. What other consequence can there be to constant heart bleeding but a cold, dry, fuck 'em heart?