No you don't, Stirling engine is not an engine like a diesel engine but describes any engine using the Stirling thermodynamic cycle with any heat source.
Rumoured "mini-nuke/diesel" Submarine SSK-N(?) thread
- Thread starter ACuriousPLAFan
- Start date
Pair this with lithium battery they can have decent dash speed
Forget about 095, this shit right here is the game changer. It will be a dreadnaught moment that renders all existing attack submarines outdated. In addition every other class of ship must play around it because it is that big of a deal.
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The value of sharing support infrastructure with China's existing SSKs in terms of basing and training cannot be underestimated. This SSKN could be the underwater equivalent of the 054/A for the 09IIIB/09V's 052D, 055. Providing sustained sea controls of the critical waterways near China would free up 09Vs for open ocean missions.
If this thing works as described it would be extremely powerful. 90% stealthiness of diesel sub, 90% speed and endurance of nuclear sub. Cost effectiveness likely also around conventional subs. The only catch: it dont carry VLS to launch long range attack. But who cares. At that point you already own the ocean.
It would be like if one day all Chinese conventional sub gain speed/endurance of nuclear sub. They roam around every corner of the ocean undetected. American hunter subs are woefully outnumbered. US must spread itself thin at every corner to prevent sudden attack. As a global empire, it has a lot of weak areas. It can no longer just guard key areas like today.
Consider the mass expansion of submarine facilities, we may see over a hundred of these subs by 2030s. It will be a threat US has never faced before since battle of Atlantics vs Germany. That fight was a draw at best. Germany was losing badly on land, but they kept pressure in the Atlantic til late 1944. Germany might have won that fight had they not got occupied on land.
It would be like if one day all Chinese conventional sub gain speed/endurance of nuclear sub. They roam around every corner of the ocean undetected. American hunter subs are woefully outnumbered. US must spread itself thin at every corner to prevent sudden attack. As a global empire, it has a lot of weak areas. It can no longer just guard key areas like today.
Consider the mass expansion of submarine facilities, we may see over a hundred of these subs by 2030s. It will be a threat US has never faced before since battle of Atlantics vs Germany. That fight was a draw at best. Germany was losing badly on land, but they kept pressure in the Atlantic til late 1944. Germany might have won that fight had they not got occupied on land.
Nothing is stopping those mini nukes to operate in open ocean, they certainly got the endurance for it. Conventional SSK can already look after the coastal sea area pretty good. Mini nukes are game changing because they're as cheap as SSK yet have the endurance of SSN, enabling those cheap mass produced units to operate anywhere in the world
antiterror13
Brigadier
How big this SSK-N would be ? would it be smaller than French Barracuda-class which is ~5,000 tons or even smaller than Rubis-class SSN around 2,500 tons?
Not just the endurance, it will perform the role of nuclear attack subs exponentially better.
- It is more cost effective, allowing it to take more risks.
- It is harder to detect, which also makes it safer all else equal.
- There will be more of them, which allows it to over more area at once, stretching defenders thin. This in return also make it safer to operate.
The multiplitive effect will be greater than sum of the 3.
2500tons from the post
antiterror13
Brigadier
Thanks
Interesting, quite small, even smaller than Yuan SSK ... roughly the same size as Rubis.
Do you know how big the mini reactor would be ? Rubis uses CAS-48 nuclear reactor (48 MW), LEU 7%
I didn't see any of nuclear reactor mention in the post, only sterling engines ... did I miss something ?