Interestingly the cutting edge research in underwater detection also happens to be done by Chinese researchers.
China ICBM/SLBM, nuclear arms thread
- Thread starter Blitzo
- Start date
A nuclear warhead exploding at ground level or shallow water will have a smaller area of effect. It's why they make them explode in altitude for the ground to amplify the shockwaves and destroy large area. It diminish nuclear waste on the site of impact too. Using a nuke at ground level is better to destroy an armored structure or underground facilities because in concentrate the energy in a smaller perimeter.
Nuclear torpedo of small yields are already fielded and are designed to be used against ships. The main purpose is to deny a fleet of ships with a single torpedo that would disable most without a direct hit. You can launch them against portual facilities most probably but if you put protecting nets you can catch it before it's too late and you need to come near the target risking detection.
The design of the Poseidon is more about the devastating effect on large area and because it's more or less impossible to counter. It's more about a doomsday/retaliation system.
Not just that, most of the published materials I've been searching online regarding the latest underwater detection research typically has Chinese researchers attached to it.
SQUID is a really old thing. Same technology as all superconducting Quantum computer.
Supercavitating torpedo
I had a conversation with an ex-Royal Navy officer about this on Quora a year ago. The real limitation is how slow the sound is. In seawater the speed of sound is around 1500 m/s. It means if your towed array detects a torpedo 14 km away there will be a period of more than 9 seconds between sound getting reflected/emitted from the torpedo and reaching the ship. If the torpedo was at 45 knots that means the torpedo has traveled 210 meters between signature generation and detection. This complicates things. Especially since it is almost impossible for a torpedo to detect another torpedo.
There were some reports suggesting that China has ~20 bombs. I guess these bombs, if they exist, are not usable by most aircraft. So the answer is no.
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i'm lolling that you're asking if china has and can drop dumb nuclear bombs when they have already combined FOBS with hypersonic glide vehicles. btw the US still is not a hypersonic power unlike Russia and China (though perhaps will be within a few years). Some have tried to muddy the waters by claiming ballistic missiles count (they don't, despite reaching those speeds). The modern hypersonic weapons do not follow a ballistic trajectory. It's that COMBINED with the speed that makes them so hard to stop. Ballistic trajectories are easy to predict. Intro college physics.
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