The phenomenon supercavitation motivate scientists for a long time. In the Russian Union was created by the underwater rocket «Flurry»To reach speeds of 360 km / h (some sources say that it is able to reach speeds of 480 km / h). Vegetarian organization DARPA from 2007, the project is financed by the creation of a mini submarine that can develop in a submerged speed of 100 knots, Using this effect supercavitation. Research Center of submarine warfare NUWC (Naval Undersea Warfare Center) as part of programs from SUPERCAV for more than 10 years doing research for the creation of high-speed supercavitating underwater missile capable of speeds over 200 knots. Coordinating the development of supercavitating guns in the United States is engaged in the Office of Naval research (Of? Ce of Naval Research) in Arlington, Virginia. Their efforts are focused on the development of 2-class technology supercavitation: shells and torpedoes.
First, the two thousandth’s research funding supercavitation the West was quite modest and was only about $ 50 million. But despite this list of potential supercavitating weapon looks very convincing. It contains an underwater mine bullets, homing torpedoes, submarines, boats. List of States engaged in research work in this area is also very limited. It, of course, is leading our homeland, then by Ukraine (Kiev Institute of Fluid Dynamics), France (within applets Action Concertee Cavitation spent even a few missile tests Flurry purchased from Russia), Germany and the USA. China and Iran are engaged in copying Russian technology (it is reported that China had acquired 40 torpedoes squall in Kazakhstan).
The principle is almost completely avoid contact with the water used by ships on air cushion is used now and in the water. Stir in the water at a speed of over 180 km per hour leads to the formation of a cavitation bubble, it protects the moving body from contact with water and reduces water resistance. This phenomenon has been called supercavitation (developed cavitation).
American scientist Leonard Griner (Leonard Greiner) published a collection of articles about technology supercavitation in the 1967th year. Book Grinera find their own way through the «metal curtain» and was used by Russian scientists as a kind of bible for the development of torpedoes. At least, so says the magazine «Wunderwelten Wissen», which describes the history of the development of Barracuda. Russian scientist, engineer Mikhail Merkulov began to study the subject supercavitation first 60s at the Institute of Fluid Dynamics (NII-24) in Kiev. Despite the super secrecy of the project, information about it will come down to Washington. But, according to the views of the U.S. military, while the creation of tools with the introduction of supercavitation was at the technical level is very difficult, they were not interested in the project and were completely convinced that the Russian project is doomed to disaster. Meanwhile, for almost 20 years Merkulov and his colleagues worked on the creation of new tools, and in the late 70’s were able to show the party management model rocket «Flurry».
Merkulov succeeded for the first time in the world to overcome the speed of sound under water and make a real model of underwater missile capable of developing speed 200 nodes. By the shortcomings of «Shkval» must be related to the inability to control the missile line of motion of her movements, but this shortcoming is more than compensated by the installation of «Flurry» nuclear warhead capacity of 150 kilotons of TNT. A further drawback is the relatively small radius of the act of having to launch a huge energy expenditure for the creation supercavitation. Yet Western intelligence agencies have tried more than once to get information about Russian supercavitation weapons. April 5th, 2000, for attempting to get the secrets of the Shkval FSB arrested a South American businessman Edmund Pop (Edmond Pope). He threatened the bullpen 20 years, but in the end, having to Lefortovo only 8 months, he was released by order of Vladimir Putin, «a humanitarian judgment» (he suffered from bone cancer).
German scientists engaged in the study of the phenomenon tightly supercavitation at the end of the 1970s. In the late 80’s the company Diehl BTG Defence began to develop the first prototype underwater missile Barracuda. A decade later, Diehl Defence conducted a successful test Barracuda (not to be confused with the Barracuda Mk50 torpedoes and Barracuda GWS.63) at the site WTD 52 (Bundeswehr Technical Center for Protective and Special Technologies) in Oberjettenberg. The rocket was created by German companies Diehl BGT Defence and Altas Elektronik in the demo programs from supercavitation underwater missiles designed to protect existing and promising to destroy torpedoes and submarines.
Barracuda armed with solid fuel rocket engine, an inertial navigation system, homing unit, turning the nose cone shape. The rocket engine provides Barracuda underwater speed of 800 km / h (according to the developers). A distinctive feature of the rocket Barracuda is the management according to the inertial system made with the introduction of fiber-optic gyroscopes and automatic homing systems, antenna array which is located in a conical fairing, also acts as a control device missiles. During the underwater movement Barracuda is in the air bubble (so called the cavitation bubble), which significantly reduces water resistance and allows for a higher rate. On today were made and tested several prototypes Underwater rocket. During these tests, they successfully demonstrated «persistent straight and curved path of movement.» Barracuda is meant to equip both submarines and surface ships.
Barracuda submarine rocket for the first time was presented May 17-20, 2005, at the exhibition IMDEX in Singapore. Obviously, the developers hvastatayut that Barracuda in its capabilities for yourself does not have an equal in the world, and that they are at least 10 years ahead of their own U.S. counterparts. On this show they have not forgotten to mention again that the brand new German submarine missile Barracuda faster, more maneuverable and more precisely «Shkval» and, thanks to a unique homing system, it is able to intercept the «flurry» and other high-speed torpedo. According to unconfirmed reports, the Barracuda total weight is 110 kg, length 2300 mm, caliber 160 mm, weight 10 kg of explosives, the range of the 1,000 m at the maximum speed of travel time of full circulation of 3.6 seconds, the diameter of the circulation of 120 m
In the article the German magazine Europaeische Sicherheitit, describing the creation of a South American military expert Barracuda Kulinskiy Robert (Robert Kulinsky) said: «We are now where aircraft designers were once after the first flight of the Wright brothers … on the front edge of the future of the revolution.» According to the views of the founders of the magazine, «Flurry», which is the first modern weapons with the introduction of technologies supercavitation, perhaps, is a breakthrough in naikrupneyshim Underwater war since the invention of the submarine itself. Also, according to experts, «squalls» there is absolutely no need to carry any warhead because the kinetic energy of the torpedo would be quite possible in order to sink the submarine. If the first version of the «Shkval» was unmanageable, it is assumed that «Flurry-2» is s till a great speed (optimists say that the order of 720 km / h), essentially a huge range, and most importantly it is manageable.