Path: utzoo!utgpu!jarvis.csri.toronto.edu!mailrus!csd4.milw.wisc.edu!leah!bingvaxu!sunybcs!rutgers!att!cbnews!jkmedcal%uokmax@uokmax.uucp From: jkmedcal%uokmax@uokmax.uucp (Jeff Medcalf) Newsgroups: sci.military Subject: U S torpedo defense Message-ID: <6318@cbnews.ATT.COM> Date: 6 May 89 03:37:11 GMT Sender: military@cbnews.ATT.COM Lines: 31 Approved: military@att.att.com From: Jeff Medcalf It might not be practical to actually shoot something at an incoming torpedo, but whether or not it is, the Navy has some torpedo defenses. The major one is called Nixie. It is a towed decoy which imitates the sounds of the ship, only louder, in order to attract acoustic torpedos. I have heard of a system called Prarie or some such, which essentially consists of two loops around the hull underwater. These rings have holes in the back side of them through which air is bled, the bubbles apparently masking the ships engine noises quite well and thus reducing their acoustic signatures. If anyone has any more info on this, I would like to see it. Is it Navy doctrine that the 20mm and 30mm guns fitted in singles to the bridge wings of some ships would attempt to take out torpedos? -- jkmedcal@uokmax.UUCP | "Open the pod bay doors, Hal." jkmedcal@uokmax.ecn.uoknor.edu | "I'm afraid I can't do that, Dave." Jeff Medcalf | -2001 [mod.note: In the realm of antitorpedo defenses, would it be feasible to link a Phalanx system to sonar, rather than radar, for firing at shallow-running torps ? It should be effective to a reasonable depth, and a single hit should disable a torpedo. I don't know much about sonar capability, though. - Bill ]