Sadly it is a self-media post. Given the author's track records of clickbait titles, I won't bet my money on it.
Sadly it is a self-media post. Given the author's track records of clickbait titles, I won't bet my money on it.
Additional information:
This arsenal ship is suppossed to be high-speed as well. People speculate that it would maybe really be nuclear powered, or at least have IEP and water-jet propulsion - or even supercavitating capability with a bubble generator at the bow. Another claim is MHD, which was kinda implied by one research paper.
In any case, what we see here isnt just a mere missile barge that can submerge, but actually a "Fast Battle Cruiser" of some sort. The acronym cqshygszzpt 常潜式海洋高速作战平台 has "high speed 高速" in its name, after all.
That is true, although I would wonder what "high speed" really refers to. If it means being able to make 30+ knots like a major surface combatant or a carrier, well for a ship of its size and more importantly, its role/configuration that would be quite fast and would be a useful speed given its likely concept of operations.
But if they're aiming for well over 30 knots to something like 40 knots then I have to wonder how feasible or necessary that is.
This , I think gives a good rundown of the basic hallmarks of an arsenal ship
Great article, thanks.
So the reason to make an arsenal ship rather than a submarine is cost. But there are some wrinkles here. The first is the value of the payload. The point is to carry a lot of missiles, yet the more missiles are carried the greater the value of the payload, both in dollar terms and the operational consequences of losing it. Therefore, the idea of a super-cheap arsenal barge is a non-starter. Indeed, given that a semi-submersible design is undoubtedly more expensive than a conventional hull, clearly the project has already made the decision to start climbing the cost/survivability curve. And so the question becomes: where does one stop? If you go too far, you might as well build a submarine.
Relatedly, high speed (>20 knots) capability seems foolish given the emphasis on cost control and passive survivability.