I was looking at the BMT web-site and they have a concept for a SSGT submarine which has a fairly unique propulsion system (and is a fairly unique looking submarine) – it has gas turbine alternator sets in the bulge on top of the fin, and can transit in a semi-submerged at higher speeds than any current of planned SSK, and it has fuel cells and AIP system to allow for more covert operation.
Thing whole concept looked a bit bonkers and I wondered if anyone had come across it before and knew more about it than what is available on BMT’s web-site?
http://www.bmtdsl.co.uk/bmt-design-portfolio/bmt-ssgt-submarine/
By: Jinan - 9th July 2013 at 21:38
Kind of looks like you are sacrificing one of the key advantage of a submarine, its stealth! A long range MPA could surely pick up the sail bulge unit sticking out of the water, also wouldn’t it have quite a significant IR signature which again could be picked up at long range.
The art work may be putting you on the wrong foot as the page actually says
“When semi-submerged, SSGT can operate at a fast transit mode, achieved by its gas turbines burning kerosene with air inducted through an extendible mast.”
also
When operating in the fast transit mode, the boat operates as a semi-submersible with
the bulb positioned above the surface. These gas turbines burn kerosene (AVTUR/AVCAT) with air
inducted through an extendable mast. The hull form selected minimises surface wave making in
this mode without compromising submerged performance.
http://media.bmt.org/bmt_media/resources/38/SsgtBrochure.pdf
That sounds much like advanced snorkling….?
By: Jonesy - 4th July 2013 at 14:48
Kind of looks like you are sacrificing one of the key advantage of a submarine, its stealth! A long range MPA could surely pick up the sail bulge unit sticking out of the water, also wouldn’t it have quite a significant IR signature which again could be picked up at long range.
The idea is to get near-SSN transit performance by sacrificing stealth during the part of the mission profile where stealth is of lesser priority….for example if you are Australia going to deploy a boat into the Persian Gulf does it matter if your boat isnt that discrete before you round the coast of India?. It harkens back to the old days where a conventional submarine would transit on diesels, on the surface, to an operational area before diving and going discrete. New SSK’s cant do that very well as they are not optimised for surface transit as boats like the old O-class were.
The concept recognises that few states out there actually have enough MPA capability to provide significantly tight surveillance coverage more than a couple of hundred miles off their coast. If the UK, for example, had a few of these in place of an SSN or two and dispatched one to patrol, say, off the Syrian coast…if it transited to the Med semi-surfaced and ‘went discrete’ just off the Italian coast would the Syrians be tracking it at that point….unlikely….but it would halve the deployment time to station compared to a normal SSK.
I’m not wholly convinced by the argument to be honest, and a part of me thinks NoCuts’ term ‘bonkers’ may be dangerously accurate, that is the basic idea though!
By: kev 99 - 4th July 2013 at 13:53
I know it’s been around for a few years, they did have a full pdf on the website originally but it looks like it’s been removed.
By: Fedaykin - 4th July 2013 at 13:30
Kind of looks like you are sacrificing one of the key advantage of a submarine, its stealth! A long range MPA could surely pick up the sail bulge unit sticking out of the water, also wouldn’t it have quite a significant IR signature which again could be picked up at long range.
Kind of looks like a forgotten concept for SeaQuest!
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July 4, 2013 at 1:23 pm