Science & Technology

US Navy is reportedly developing a one-of-a-kind supersonic submarine

By T.K. Randall
February 21, 2024 ·  20 comments

Could supersonic submarines be the future of underwater warfare ? Image Credit: Bing AI / Dall-E 3 Supersonic speeds seem to be high on the agenda these days.

Just last month, NASA and Lockheed Martin officially revealed the X-59 - a supersonic aircraft with dampened sonic booms - and now, it seems, the US Navy might be trying to achieve something similar underwater.

For the last few years, researchers at the Penn State Applied Research Laboratory have been working to develop a radical new type of submarine capable of traveling at supersonic speeds.

To accomplish this, the submarine would employ a technology known as supercavitation which essentially involves encasing the vehicle in an air bubble to reduce drag.

A similar method was used by the Soviets to make high-speed torpedos during the Cold War.Creating a supersonic submarine does come with its drawbacks, however.

For example, it's not clear how the submarine would mitigate the risk of colliding with a large sea animal at over 1,000 miles per hour.

It's also not clear what such a vehicle would actually be used for.

Even so, there is clearly a demand for such technology as, according to reports, researchers at the Harbin Institute of Technology's Complex Flow and Heat Transfer Lab in China are also working on a similar concept based on the same supercavitation technology.

It remains to be seen which country will ultimately get there first.

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Tags: Submarine