Possibly center of mass sits much lower than center of buoyancy to provide some static stability, combine with active control control surfaces to enhance vertical stability. It is of course very challenging, otherwise it would have been done before given the advantages in noise reduction and drag reduction.
New sailless SSN (provisional)
- Thread starter ACuriousPLAFan
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Possibly center of mass sits much lower than center of buoyancy to provide some static stability, combine with active control control surfaces to enhance vertical stability. It is of course very challenging, otherwise it would have been done before given the advantages in noise reduction and drag reduction.
Depends on what the actual diameter is for the Bohai sub
Yeah guess we’ll need some better pics.
the only reason I can think of having it so long is a very large mission module, whether it's large VLS farm or some kind of UUV section or both. Probably not used in an attack sub role. Maybe if it is a double hull sub, then it's close to the inner hull of 093B to reduce risks and allowing for earlier mass production. If it doesn't need to be quietest sub with high speed requirement, then using 093B sized pressure hull could be okay.
I actually think a 120m long hull isn't that long.
A Virginia is 115m long, and it is only Block 5 Virginia that reaches 140m in length (given its hull plugs for additional VLS), or USS Jimmy Carter at 138m in length (given hull plugs for special mission/UUV deployment).
Of course, a 120m long hull could still be a special mission submarine in role (it depends on if the rest of the submarine has a similar weapons fitout to a standard SSN), but the length itself is one which could be within the bounds of a "normal SSN" as well.
If this submarine was 140m long, I would agree that a special mission role/mission module plug would definitely be something to more heavily consider.
Four Chinese submarines of the new and next generations, put side-by-side (from left to right): 041 SSKN, 09X SSN, 093B SSN, 095 SSN.
Lethe
Captain
As described by @Tomboy, large missiles could be mounted outside a smaller pressure hull. The wreck of the ill-fated submarine Kursk (R.I.P.) illustrates:
If the task is simply to haul payload around, a nuclear-powered submarine is surely the most expensive means of doing it compared to any kind of surface ship. There's a reason the nuclear cargo submarine idea never went anywhere...
My (very superficial) understanding is that an ongoing concern for U.S. submarine design is the tendency for a large, forward positioned sail, as American boats tend to have, to contribute to "snap roll" phenomenon whereby the submarine rolls into a rapid turn and, if the roll is not corrected, subsequently into a dive, and that this has prompted exploration of smaller submarine sails to attenuate the phenomenon.
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I think what he's asking about is why the reported 10-11m hull diameter could be reconciled as a missile truck/SSGN.
The premise being that the 10-11m hull diameter is the external/overall diameter, which will be the case regardless of whether the submarine is single or double hulled.
... But the question of course is what its actual overall hull diameter is, which we have some disagreement on per the satellite pictures.
it seems incredibly unlikely given the size and fineness ratio of the hull.