It’s expected that LA class can go excess of 30kts in most cases I think. Low 30kt should be their maximum speed, 31~33kt or so. Most SSNs stay in this range minus for the French Rubis class and Chinese Han, which uses a bit less efficient propulsion and has around 25kt max speed. Seawolf, with its monster reactor is expected to go beyond 40kts in emergencies. I do not believe same type of reactor was installed on Virginia, so these boats should not go over 35kt, though when they get hydro-dynamically effecient sail it might change fractionally. Astute class has lower power PWR, so maybe 29+kt speed range.

I do find the report a bit strange. 33kt should be near absolute maximum speed LA class can travel with regular crew and arm load. Normal transient speed should not go over 25kts, over 30kt should only be used in emergencies.

I think you should try asking at warships1.com board. Some are ex-USN who’d served on SSNs. While getting an exact answer might be hard, they might point you in the right direction.

The page is closed because of personal reasons. I think it’s permenent.

Both Collin and Oyashio are over 3000ton, as is newer Kilo, if I’m not mistaken. Oyashio, however, always seem to carry a bit of excess crew complement of over 70, whereas bigger Collins carry some 40? crew and officer I believe? The number of crewmen should have a lot of issue.

U206 for Taiwan? 🙂 Seriously though, the 206s and Kobben classes are retiring aren’t they? I wonder if China will object much to sale of used boats? I doubt Taiwan would want one of these though.

re

I usually look at the shadowing and whether the outlines clash with the background or not.

How can midget submarines be superfast? UUVs are the future of course, but they aren’t really much for offensive purposes yet.

Well…..

South Korean arms company LG Precision has been involved with ADD lab to develope domestic torpedoes for South Korean Navy.

K-731 White Shark: Self-guided heavy-weight torpedo. Top speed of only 35knot and uses electric motor with counter-rotating screws. It has active and passive homing capability, but no wire-guidance. Mostly for uses against North Korean subs rather than high-quality submarines and surface ships of surrounding nations.

“Blue Shark” light-weight torpedo with top-speed of 40~50knot to replace the Mk46 in South Korean service. Under developement for uses on surface ships, ASW aircrafts and anti-sub missiles.

“Black Shark” heavy-weight torpedo, rumored to be under developement. Unlike White Shark, this is considered to be a high-performance torpedo with similar characteristics to Seahake torpedo.

I think they would need more expendable component compatibility than high tech. Artillery shells, small arms, and tank shells are exactly same aren’t they? Expenditure rate of SSMs and AAMs are nothing as compared to those ammunition expenditure.