wah lau! u guys paranoid lah!
its just a thought. everything i post can and will be found in the public domain! i don't like saying things i can't prove.
but i apologise for not being specific.
like i said a few posts before, RSN should consider the Shvkal because its a capability no one else in the region has yet and a combination of the Shvkal and conventional torps would be great.
it beats taking a baby step by getting a new conventional torp... u need both. it seems that even the americans are looking into the possibilities of using a system similar to the Shvkal so...
and the sjoormen are not exactly sealthy... the teardrop design was ahead of its time during the 50s, but not stealthy enough by today's standards. since its easier to detect and not that fast, then the more reason u need a good counter-measure system. IMO, enemy vessels would hesitate to engage a target with a wire guided torp if they know that they'll have a rocket propelled torp blasting in their direction in less than a few seconds... they gotta shoot and scoot or they just might sink...
the arrest of 2 americans in 2000 by the Russian FSB almost certainly proves that they were trying to get their hands on the Shvkal design. they'll probably come up with something much more advance if they do commit their resources to it (not now though... ) but the Shvkal is already a readily available system and will be happily sold to anyone with the money to buy it.
source: http://www.fas.org/man/dod-101/sys/missile/row/shkval.htm
The objective of the High-Speed Undersea Weaponry project at the US Office of Naval Research is to develop the vehicle guidance, control and maneuvering capabilities for the quick reaction weapons. High-speed weapons could offer an advantage for Anti Submarine Warfare (ASW) "close encounter" scenarios. The overall system response of a high-speed weapon for breaking off engagements with enemy submarines would be measured in seconds, rather than minutes. The High-Speed Undersea Weapons project has three tasks; Vehicle Guidance, Vehicle Control, and Test Bed Development. Vehicle Guidance deals with homing sensors, signal processing, waveform design, and autopilot commands that are used to guide (either autonomously or with external interaction) the weapon to its target. Vehicle control deals with control and maneuvering of the high-speed weapon with emphasis on stabilizing the supercavitating bubble cavity, and optimizing the flow for low drag. Technical issues include instability due to vehicle planing and tail slap, interaction between cavity with propulsion exhaust, and propulsion system transients, including startup. Test Bed Development is an ongoing effort that develops a test platform to test and evaluate S&T candidate systems such as homing systems, vehicle control, and propulsion systems.
