As reported by the Izvestia newspaper, the Russian Navy has adopted the new Physicist-2 torpedo. Reportedly, this torpedo is designed to arm the latest missile-carrying submarines of Project 955 Borey and multipurpose nuclear submarines of the new generation of Project 885855M Yasen.

Until recently, the situation with torpedo weapons for the Russian Navy was rather bleak - despite the presence of modern nuclear submarines of the third generation and the emergence of the newest fourth generation submarines, their combat capabilities were significantly limited by the existing torpedo weapons, which were significantly inferior not only to new ones, but also in largely outdated samples of foreign torpedoes. And not only American and European, but even Chinese.

The main task of the Soviet submarine fleet was the fight against the surface ships of a potential enemy, primarily against American convoys, which, in the event of the Cold War escalating into a "hot" war, were to deliver American troops, weapons and military equipment, various supplies and material and technical means to Europe. provision. The most advanced in the Soviet submarine fleet were "thermal" torpedoes 53-65K and 65-76, designed to destroy ships - for their time they had high speed characteristics and cruising range, as well as a unique wake locating system, which made it possible to "catch" the wake enemy ship and follow along it until it hits the target. At the same time, they provided complete freedom of maneuver for the carrier submarine after launch. The monstrous torpedo 65-76 with a caliber of 650 millimeters was especially effective. She had a huge cruising range - 100 kilometers at a speed of 35 knots and 50 kilometers at a speed of 50 knots, and the most powerful 765-kg warhead was enough to inflict heavy damage even on an aircraft carrier (only a few torpedoes were required to sink an aircraft carrier) and guaranteed to sink one torpedo ship of any other class.

However, the appearance in the 1970s, the so-called universal torpedoes appeared - they could be equally effectively used against both surface ships and submarines. There was also a new torpedo guidance system - telecontrol. With this method of targeting a torpedo, control commands are transmitted to it using an unwound wire, which makes it easy to "parry" target maneuvers and optimize the trajectory of the torpedo, which in turn makes it possible to expand the effective range of the torpedo. However, in the field of creating universal remote-controlled torpedoes in the Soviet Union, no significant success was achieved, moreover, Soviet universal torpedoes were already significantly inferior to their foreign counterparts. First, all Soviet universal torpedoes were electric, i.e. driven by electricity from onboard batteries. They are simpler to operate, have less noise when driving and do not leave an unmasking mark on the surface, but at the same time, in terms of range and speed, they are very much inferior to steam-gas or the so-called. "thermal" torpedoes. Secondly, the highest level of automation of Soviet submarines, including the automatic loading system for torpedo tubes, imposed design restrictions on the torpedo and did not allow the implementation of the so-called. the telecontrol hose system when the reel with the telecontrol cable is in the torpedo tube. Instead, they had to use a towed reel, which severely limits the torpedo's capabilities. If the hose telecontrol system allows the submarine to freely maneuver after launching the torpedo, then the towed maneuvers after the launch is extremely limited - in this case, the telecontrol cable is guaranteed to break, moreover, there is a high probability of its breakage from the oncoming water flow. The towed coil also does not allow for salvo torpedo firing.

In the late 1980s, work began on the creation of new torpedoes, but due to the collapse of the Soviet Union, they were continued only in the new millennium. As a result, Russian submarines were left with ineffective torpedoes. The main universal torpedo USET-80 had completely unsatisfactory characteristics, and the existing anti-submarine torpedoes SET-65, which had good characteristics at the time of their adoption in 1965, were already morally obsolete. At the beginning of the 21st century, the 65-76 torpedo was removed from service, which in 2000 became the cause of the Kursk submarine disaster that shook the entire country. Russian multipurpose submarines have lost their "far hand" and the most effective torpedo for fighting surface ships. Thus, by the beginning of this decade, the situation with submarine torpedo weapons was completely depressing - they had extremely weak capabilities in a duel situation with enemy submarines and limited capabilities to defeat surface targets. However, the latter problem was partially overcome by equipping submarines with modernized 53-65K torpedoes since 2011, which may have received a new homing system and were provided with higher range and speed characteristics. Nevertheless, the capabilities of Russian torpedoes were significantly inferior to modern modifications of the main American universal torpedo Mk-48. The Navy obviously needed new universal torpedoes that would meet modern requirements.

In 2003, at the International Naval Show, a new torpedo UGST (Universal Deep-Water Homing Torpedo) was presented. For the Russian Navy, this torpedo was named "Physicist". According to reports, since 2008, the Dagdizel plant has been producing limited batches of these torpedoes for testing on the latest submarines of projects 955 and 885. Since 2015, the serial production of these torpedoes and equipping them with the latest submarines, which previously had to be armed obsolete torpedoes. For example, the Severodvinsk submarine, which joined the fleet in 2014, was initially armed with obsolete USET-80 torpedoes. As reported in open sources, as the number of new torpedoes produced increases, older submarines will also be armed with them.

In 2016, it was reported that a new torpedo "Case" was being tested on Lake Issyk-Kul and that it was supposed to be put into service in 2017, after which the production of "Physicist" torpedoes would be phased out and instead of them the fleet would begin to receive other, more perfect torpedoes. However, on July 12, 2017, the Izvestia newspaper and a number of Russian news agencies reported that the Russian Navy had adopted a new Fizik-2 torpedo. At the moment, it is completely unclear whether a torpedo called the "Case" or the "Case" torpedo - a fundamentally new torpedo - has been adopted. The first version may be supported by the fact that, as reported last year, the "Case" torpedo is a further development of the "Physicist" torpedo. The same is said about the "Physicist-2" torpedo.

The "Physicist" torpedo has a cruising range of 50 km at a speed of 30 knots and 40 kilometers at a speed of 50 knots. The Fizik-2 torpedo is reported to have a maximum speed increased to 60 knots (about 110 km / h) due to the new 800 kW 19DT turbine engine. The "Physicist" torpedo has an active-passive homing system and a telecontrol system. The torpedo homing system when firing at surface targets provides the detection of the wake of an enemy ship at a distance of 2.5 kilometers and guidance to the target by locating the wake. Apparently, a new generation wake tracking system is installed on the torpedo, which is hardly susceptible to hydroacoustic countermeasures. For shooting at submarines, the homing system has active sonars capable of "capturing" an enemy submarine at a distance of up to 1200 meters. Probably, the newest torpedo "Physicist-2" has an even more advanced homing system. It also seems likely that the torpedo received a hose reel instead of a towed one. Reportedly, the overall combat capabilities of this torpedo are comparable to those of the latest modifications of the American Mk-48 torpedo.

Thus, the situation with the "torpedo crisis" in the Russian Navy was reversed, and it is possible that in the coming years it will be possible to equip all Russian submarines with new universal highly effective torpedoes, which will significantly expand the potential of the Russian submarine fleet.

Pavel Rumyantsev

Modern torpedo- a formidable weapon of surface ships, naval aviation and submarines. It allows you to quickly and accurately deliver a powerful blow to the enemy at sea. It is an autonomous, self-propelled and guided underwater projectile containing 0.5 tons of explosives or a nuclear warhead.
The secrets of the development of torpedo weapons are the most guarded, because the number of states possessing these technologies is even less than the members of the nuclear missile club.

Currently, there is a serious growth in the lag of Russia in the design and development of torpedo armament... For a long time, the situation was somehow mitigated by the presence in Russia of the Shvkal missile-torpedoes adopted in 1977, but since 2005, similar torpedo armament has appeared in Germany.

There is information that the German missile-torpedoes "Barracuda" are capable of developing a speed greater than the "Shkval", but so far Russian torpedoes of this type are more widespread. In general, the lag of conventional Russian torpedoes from foreign counterparts reaches 20-30 years. .

The main torpedo manufacturer in Russia is the Marine Underwater Weapons - Gidropribor Concern OJSC. This enterprise, during the international naval show in 2009 ("IMDS-2009") presented its developments to the public, in particular 533-mm universal remote-controlled electric torpedo TE-2... This torpedo is designed to destroy modern enemy submarine ships in any area of ​​the World Ocean.

The TE-2 torpedo has the following characteristics:
- length with coil (without coil) of telecontrol - 8300 (7900) mm;
- total weight - 2450 kg;
- mass of a warhead - 250 kg;
- the torpedo is capable of speeds from 32 to 45 knots at a distance of 15 and 25 km, respectively;
- has a service life of 10 years.

The TE-2 torpedo is equipped with an acoustic homing system(active on a surface target and active-passive on an underwater one) and non-contact electromagnetic fuses, as well as a sufficiently powerful electric motor with a noise reduction device.

The TE-2 torpedo can be installed on submarines and ships of various types and at the request of the customer made in three different versions:
- the first TE-2-01 assumes mechanical input of data on the detected target;
- the second TE-2-02 electrical input of data on the detected target;
- the third version of the TE-2 torpedo has a smaller weight and dimensions with a length of 6.5 meters and is intended for use on NATO-type submarines, for example, on German project 209 submarines.

Torpedo TE-2-02 was specially developed for arming the Project 971 nuclear-powered multipurpose submarines of the Bars class, which carry missile and torpedo armament. There is information that a similar nuclear submarine was purchased under a contract by the Indian Navy.

The saddest thing is that such a TE-2 torpedo already does not meet a number of requirements for such weapons, and is also inferior in its technical characteristics to foreign counterparts.... All modern Western-made torpedoes and even the new Chinese-made torpedo weapons have hose telecontrol.

On domestic torpedoes, a towed coil is used - a rudiment of almost 50 years ago. That actually puts our submarines under fire from the enemy with much greater effective firing distances.

Torpedo (from lat. torpedo narke - electric ramp , abbreviated lat. torpedo) - a self-propelled device containing an explosive charge and serves to destroy surface and underwater targets. The appearance of torpedo weapons in the 19th century radically changed the tactics of warfare at sea and served as an impetus for the development of new types of ships carrying torpedoes as the main armament.

Torpedoes of various types. Military Museum at the Bezymyannaya battery, Vladivostok.

History of creation

Illustration from the book by Giovanni de la Fontana

Like many other inventions, the invention of the torpedo has several starting points at once. For the first time, the idea of ​​using special shells to destroy enemy ships was described in the book by the Italian engineer Giovanni de la Fontana (Italian. Giovanni de la Fontana) Bellicorum instrumentorum liber, cum figuris et fictitys litoris conscriptus(rus. "Illustrated and encrypted book of tools of war" or otherwise "Book of military supplies" ). The book contains images of various military devices moving on land, water and air and driven by the reactive energy of powder gases.

The next event that predetermined the appearance of the torpedo was the proof by David Bushnell (eng. David Bushnell) the possibility of burning gunpowder under water. Later, Bushnell tried to create the first sea mine, equipped with a clock explosive mechanism invented by him, but an attempt to use it in combat (like the Turtle submarine invented by Bushnell) was unsuccessful.
The next step towards the creation of torpedoes was taken by Robert Fulton (eng. Robert fulton), the creator of one of the first steamers. In 1797 he suggested to the British the use of drifting mines equipped with a clock explosive mechanism and was the first to use the word torpedo to describe a device that was supposed to explode under the bottom and thus destroy enemy ships. This word was used because of the ability of electric rays (lat. torpedo narke) go unnoticed, and then paralyze your victim with a swift throw.

Sixth mine

Fulton's invention was not a torpedo in the modern sense of the word, but a defensive mine. Such mines were widely used by the Russian fleet during the Crimean War in the Azov, Black and Baltic Seas. But these mines were defensive weapons. The pole mines that appeared a little later became an offensive weapon. The sixth mine was an explosive attached to the end of a long pole and secretly delivered by boat to an enemy ship.

A new stage was the appearance of towed mines. Such mines existed in both defensive and offensive versions. Harvey's defensive mine (eng. Harvey) was towed using a long cable at a distance of about 100-150 meters from the ship outside the wake jet and had a remote fuse, which was activated when the enemy tried to ram the protected ship. The offensive option, the Makarov lionfish, was also towed on a cable, but when the enemy ship approached, the tug went straight to the enemy, at the last moment it abruptly went to the side and released the cable, while the mine continued to move by inertia and exploded when it collided with an enemy ship.

The last step on the way to the invention of the self-propelled torpedo was the sketches of an unknown Austro-Hungarian officer, which depicted a certain projectile towed from the shore and filled with a pyroxylin charge. The sketches went to Captain Giovanni Biagio Luppis (Rus. Giovanni biagio luppis), who fired up the idea to create a self-propelled analogue of a mine for coastal defense (eng. coastsaver), controlled from the shore using cables. Luppis built a mock-up of such a mine, set in motion by a spring from a clock mechanism, but he failed to establish control of this projectile. In desperation, Luppis turned to the Englishman Robert Whitehead for help. Robert whitehead), engineer of a shipbuilding company Stabilimeno Technico Fiumano in Fiume (now Rijeka, Croatia).

Whitehead torpedo


Whitehead managed to solve two problems that stood in the way of his predecessors. The first problem was a simple and reliable engine that would make the torpedo autonomous. Whitehead decided to install a compressed air pneumatic motor for his invention and drives a propeller installed in the stern. The second problem was the visibility of the torpedo moving through the water. Whitehead decided to make the torpedo in such a way that it moved at a shallow depth, but for a long time he was unable to achieve stability of the diving depth. Torpedoes either surfaced, or went to great depths, or even moved in waves. Whitehead solved this problem with a simple and effective mechanism - a hydrostatic pendulum that controlled the rudders. reacting to the trim of the torpedo, the mechanism deflected the depth rudders in the desired direction, but at the same time did not allow the torpedo to make undulating movements. The accuracy of keeping the depth was quite sufficient and amounted to ± 0.6 m.

Torpedoes by country

Torpedo device

The torpedo consists of a streamlined body, in the bow of which there is a warhead with a fuse and an explosive charge. To propel self-propelled torpedoes, engines of various types are installed on them: compressed air, electric, jet, mechanical. To operate the engine, a supply of fuel is placed on board the torpedo: compressed air cylinders, batteries, fuel tanks. Torpedoes equipped with an automatic or remote guidance device are equipped with control devices, servos and steering mechanisms.

Classification

Kriegsmarine torpedo types

Torpedoes are classified according to several criteria:

  • by appointment: anti-ship; anti-submarine; versatile, used against submarines and surface ships.
  • by media type: shipboard; boat; aviation; universal; special (warheads of anti-submarine missiles and self-propelled mines).
  • by charge type: educational, without explosive; with a charge of conventional explosive; with nuclear weapons;
  • by fuse type: contact; non-contact; remote; combined.
  • by caliber: small caliber, up to 400 mm; medium caliber, from 400 to 533 mm inclusive; large caliber, over 533 mm.
  • by type of mover: screw; reactive; with an external mover.
  • by engine type: gas; steam-gas; electrical; reactive.
  • by type of control: uncontrollable; autonomously controlled erect; autonomously controlled maneuvering; with remote control; with manual direct control; with combined control.
  • by homing type: with active homing; with passive homing; with combined homing.
  • homing: with magnetic guidance; with electromagnetic guidance; with acoustic guidance; with thermal guidance; with hydrodynamic guidance; with hydro-optical guidance; combined.

Starters

Torpedo engines

Gas and steam-gas torpedoes

Brotherhood engine

The first mass self-propelled torpedoes by Robert Whitehead used a piston engine running on compressed air. Air compressed to 25 atmospheres from the cylinder through a pressure reducing reducer entered the simplest piston engine, which, in turn, drove the torpedo propeller into rotation. Whitehead's engine at 100 rpm provided a torpedo speed of 6.5 knots at a range of 180 m. To increase the speed and range, it was necessary to increase the pressure and volume of compressed air, respectively.

With the development of technology and an increase in pressure, the problem of freezing of valves, regulators and the torpedo engine arose. With the expansion of gases, a sharp decrease in temperature occurs, which is the stronger, the higher the pressure difference. It was possible to avoid freezing in dry-heated torpedo engines, which appeared in 1904. The Brotherhood three-cylinder engines, which powered the first Whitehead heated torpedoes, used kerosene or alcohol to reduce air pressure. Liquid fuel was injected into the air coming from the cylinder and ignited. Due to the combustion of fuel, the pressure increased and the temperature decreased. In addition to combustion engines, engines later appeared in which water was injected into the air, due to which the physical properties of the gas-air mixture changed.

Anti-submarine torpedo MU90 with a water-jet engine

Further improvement was associated with the appearance of steam-air torpedoes (torpedoes with wet heating), in which water was injected into the fuel combustion chambers. Thanks to this, it was possible to ensure the combustion of more fuel, as well as use the steam generated by the evaporation of water to feed the engine and increase the energy potential of the torpedo. This cooling system was first used on the British Royal Gun torpedoes in 1908.

The amount of fuel that can be burned is limited by the amount of oxygen, of which the air contains about 21%. To increase the amount of fuel burned, torpedoes were developed, in which oxygen was pumped into the cylinders instead of air. In Japan, during the Second World War, the 61 cm Type 93 oxygen torpedo was in service, the most powerful, long-range and high-speed torpedo of its time. The disadvantage of oxygen torpedoes was their explosiveness. In Germany, during the Second World War, experiments were conducted with the creation of traceless torpedoes of the G7ut type on hydrogen peroxide and equipped with a Walter engine. Further development of the Walther engine application was the creation of jet and water-jet torpedoes.

Electric torpedoes

Electric torpedo MGT-1

Gas and steam-gas torpedoes have a number of disadvantages: they leave an unmasking trail and have difficulties with long-term storage in a charged state. Electrically powered torpedoes are devoid of these shortcomings. For the first time, an electric motor was equipped with a torpedo of his design by John Ericsson in 1973. The electric motor was powered by a cable from an external current source. The torpedoes of Sims-Edison and Nordfeld had similar designs, and the latter also controlled the rudders of the torpedo via wires. The first successful autonomous electric torpedo, in which power was supplied to the engine from on-board batteries, was the German G7e, which was widespread during the Second World War. But this torpedo also had a number of disadvantages. Its lead-acid battery was shock-sensitive, requiring regular maintenance and recharging, and warming up before use. The American Mark 18 torpedo had a similar design. The experimental G7ep, which became a further development of the G7e, was devoid of these shortcomings, since the batteries in it were replaced with galvanic cells. Modern electric torpedoes use highly reliable, maintenance-free lithium-ion or silver batteries.

Torpedoes with a mechanical engine

Brennan's torpedo

The mechanical engine was first used in Brennan's torpedo. The torpedo had two cables wound on drums inside the torpedo body. Onshore steam winches pulled cables that spun the drums and rotated the torpedo propellers. The operator on the shore controlled the relative speeds of the winches, thanks to which he could change the direction and speed of the torpedo. Such systems were used for coastal defense in Great Britain between 1887 and 1903.
In the United States, at the end of the 19th century, the Howell torpedo was in service, which was set in motion due to the energy of the flywheel spun before launch. Howell also used the gyroscopic effect for the first time to control the course of a torpedo.

Jet engine torpedoes

The bow of the M-5 torpedo complex Shkval

Attempts to use a jet engine in torpedoes were made in the second half of the 19th century. After the end of World War II, a number of attempts were made to create missile-torpedoes, which were a combination of a missile and a torpedo. After launching into the air, the rocket-torpedo uses a jet engine, which drives the head part - the torpedo to the target, after falling into the water, a conventional torpedo engine is turned on and further movement is carried out already in the mode of a conventional torpedo. Such a device had Fairchild AUM-N-2 Petrel air-launched missile-torpedoes and RUR-5 ASROC, Grebe and RUM-139 VLA shipborne anti-submarine torpedoes. They used standard torpedoes combined with a rocket carrier. The RUR-4 Weapon Alpha complex used a depth charge equipped with a rocket booster. In the USSR, the aircraft missile-torpedoes RAT-52 were in service. In 1977, the USSR adopted the Shkval complex equipped with an M-5 torpedo. This torpedo has a jet engine that runs on hydroreactive solid fuel. In 2005, the German company Diehl BGT Defense announced the creation of a similar supercavitating torpedo, and the HSUW torpedo is being developed in the United States. A feature of jet torpedoes is their speed, which exceeds 200 knots and is achieved due to the movement of the torpedo in the supercavitating cavity of gas bubbles, thereby reducing the resistance of the water.

In addition to jet engines, non-standard torpedo engines from gas turbines to single-fuel engines such as sulfur hexafluoride sprayed over a block of solid lithium are also used today.

Maneuvering and control devices

Pendulum hydrostat
1. The axis of the pendulum.
2. Rudder of depth.
3. Pendulum.
4. Hydrostat disc.

Already during the first experiments with torpedoes, it became clear that during the movement, the torpedo constantly deviates from the initially set course and depth of travel. Some samples of torpedoes received a remote control system, which made it possible to manually set the depth of the course and the course of movement. Robert Whitehead installed a special device on his own torpedoes - a hydrostat. It consisted of a cylinder with a movable disk and a spring and was placed in the torpedo so that the disk perceived the pressure of the water. When the depth of the torpedo was changed, the disk moved vertically and, with the help of rods and a vacuum-air servo drive, controlled the rudders. The hydrostat has a significant response time lag, so when using it, the torpedo constantly changed the depth of travel. To stabilize the operation of the hydrostat, Whitehead used a pendulum that was connected to the vertical rudders in such a way as to speed up the operation of the hydrostat.
As long as the torpedoes had a limited cruising range, course-keeping measures were not required. With an increase in the range, the torpedoes began to deviate significantly from the course, which required the use of special measures and control of the vertical rudders. The most effective device was the Aubrey device, which was a gyroscope, which, when any of its axes is tilted, tends to return to its original position. With the help of rods, the return force of the gyroscope was transmitted to the vertical rudders, due to which the torpedo maintained the initially set course with a sufficiently high accuracy. The gyroscope was spun at the time of the shot using a spring or a pneumatic turbine. When the gyroscope was installed at an angle that did not coincide with the launch axis, it was possible to achieve the movement of the torpedo at an angle to the direction of the shot.

During the Second World War, torpedoes equipped with a hydrostatic mechanism and a gyroscope began to be equipped with a circulation mechanism. After launch, such a torpedo could move along any preprogrammed trajectory. In Germany, such guidance systems were called FaT (Flachenabsuchender Torpedo, horizontally maneuvering torpedo) and LuT - (Lagenuabhangiger Torpedo, self-guided torpedo). The maneuvering systems made it possible to set complex trajectories of movement, thereby increasing the safety of the shooting ship and increasing the effectiveness of shooting. Circulating torpedoes were most effective when attacking convoys and inland waters of ports, that is, with a high concentration of enemy ships.

Guidance and control of torpedoes when firing

Torpedo firing control device

Torpedoes can have various guidance and control options. The most widespread at first were unguided torpedoes, which, like an artillery shell, were not equipped with course change devices after launch. There were also torpedoes controlled remotely by wire and human-controlled torpedoes controlled by a pilot. Later, torpedoes with homing systems appeared, which independently guided themselves to the target using various physical fields: electromagnetic, acoustic, optical, as well as along the wake. There are also radio-controlled torpedoes that use a combination of different targeting types.

Torpedo triangle

Brennan's torpedoes and some other types of early torpedoes were remote-controlled, while the more common Whitehead torpedoes and their further modifications required only initial guidance. At the same time, it was necessary to take into account a number of parameters that affect the chances of hitting a target. With the increase in the range of torpedoes, the solution to the task of targeting them became more and more difficult. For guidance, special tables and devices were used, with the help of which the launch lead was calculated depending on the mutual courses of the firing ship and the target, their speeds, distance to the target, weather conditions and other parameters.

The simplest, but fairly accurate calculations of the coordinates and parameters of the target movement (CPDTs) were performed manually by calculating trigonometric functions. You can simplify the calculation using a navigation tablet or with the help of a torpedo firing director.
In the general case, the solution of the torpedo triangle is reduced to calculating the angle of the angle α by the known parameters of the target speed V C, torpedo speed V T and course target Θ ... In fact, due to the influence of various parameters, the calculation was made based on a larger amount of data.

Torpedo Data Computer Control Panel

By the beginning of World War II, automatic electromechanical calculators appeared that made it possible to calculate the launch of torpedoes. The US Navy used the Torpedo Data Computer (TDC). It was a complex mechanical device into which, before launching the torpedo, data were entered about the torpedo carrier (course and speed), about the parameters of the torpedo (type, depth, speed) and target data (course, speed, distance). According to the entered data, TDC not only calculated the torpedo triangle, but also automatically tracked the target. The received data was transmitted to the torpedo compartment, where the angle of the gyroscope was set using a mechanical pusher. TDC made it possible to enter data into all torpedo tubes, taking into account their relative position, including for rolling launch. Since the data about the carrier was entered automatically from the gyrocompass and the pitometer, during the attack, the submarine could conduct active maneuvering without the need for recalculations.

Homing devices

The use of remote control and homing systems significantly simplifies calculations when firing and increases the efficiency of torpedo use.
Remote mechanical control was first used on Brennan's torpedoes, and wire control was also used on a wide variety of torpedo types. Radio control was first used on the Hammond torpedo during the First World War.
Among the homing systems, torpedoes with acoustic passive homing were at first most widespread. The first to enter service in March 1943 were the G7e / T4 Falke torpedoes, but the next modification, the G7es T-5 Zaunkönig, became mass. In the torpedo, a passive guidance method was used, in which the homing device first analyzes the characteristics of the noise, comparing them with typical samples, and then generates control signals for the directional rudder mechanism, comparing the levels of signals arriving at the left and right acoustic receiver. In 1941, the Mark 24 FIDO torpedo was developed in the United States, but due to the lack of a noise analysis system, it was used only for dropping from aircraft, since it could aim at a firing ship. The torpedo, after dropping, began to move, describing the circulation until the moment of receiving acoustic noises, after which it was aimed at the target.
Active acoustic guidance systems contain sonar, with the help of which the target is guided by the acoustic signal reflected from it.
Less common are systems that provide guidance based on changes in the magnetic field generated by the ship.
After the end of the Second World War, torpedoes began to be equipped with devices that produce guidance along the wake left by the target.

Warhead

Pi 1 (Pi G7H) - fuse for German torpedoes G7a and G7e

The first torpedoes were supplied with a warhead with a pyroxylin charge and a shock fuse. When the bow of the torpedo hits the side of the target, the striker's needles break the primer-igniter, which, in turn, causes the explosive to detonate.

The detonation of the shock fuse was possible only when the torpedo hit the target perpendicularly. If the collision occurred tangentially, the striker did not work and the torpedo went to the side. They tried to improve the characteristics of the shock fuse with the help of special whiskers located in the bow of the torpedo. To increase the likelihood of detonation, inertial fuses began to be installed on the torpedoes. The inertial fuse was triggered by a pendulum, which, with a sharp change in the speed or course of the torpedo, released the firing pin, which, in turn, under the action of the mainspring, pierced the capsules that ignited the explosive charge.

The head compartment of the UGST torpedo with an antenna homing system and proximity fuses sensors

Later, to increase safety, fuses began to be equipped with a safety spinner, which unwound after the torpedo set a given speed and unlocked the drummer. Thus, the safety of the shooting ship was increased.

In addition to mechanical fuses, torpedoes were equipped with electric fuses, the detonation of which occurred due to the discharge of the capacitor. The capacitor was charged from a generator, the rotor of which was connected to a turntable. Thanks to this design, the accidental firing fuse and the fuse were structurally combined, which increased their reliability.
The use of contact fuses did not allow realizing the full combat potential of torpedoes. The use of thick underwater armor and anti-torpedo bullets made it possible not only to reduce damage during a torpedo explosion, but also in some cases to avoid damage. It was possible to significantly increase the efficiency of torpedoes by ensuring their detonation not at the side, but under the bottom of the ship. This became possible with the advent of proximity fuses. Such fuses are triggered by changes in magnetic, acoustic, hydrodynamic or optical fields.
Proximity fuses are of active and passive types. In the first case, the fuse contains an emitter that forms a physical field around the torpedo, the state of which is monitored by the receiver. In the event of a change in the field parameters, the receiver initiates the detonation of the torpedo's explosive. Passive guidance devices do not contain emitters, but track changes in natural fields, such as the earth's magnetic field.

Countermeasures

Battleship Eustathius with anti-torpedo nets.

The appearance of torpedoes necessitated the development and use of means of countering torpedo attacks. Since the first torpedoes had a low speed, they could be fought by firing torpedoes from small arms and small-caliber guns.

The projected ships began to be equipped with special passive protection systems. On the outside of the sides, anti-torpedo boules were installed, which were partially water-filled, narrowly targeted sponsons. When hit by a torpedo, the energy of the explosion was absorbed by the water and reflected from the side, reducing damage. After the First World War, an anti-torpedo belt was also used, which consisted of several lightly armored compartments located opposite the waterline. This belt absorbed the torpedo explosion and minimized internal damage to the ship. A type of anti-torpedo belt was the constructive underwater protection of the Pugliese system, used on the battleship Giulio Cesare.

Anti-torpedo missile defense system for ships "Udav-1" (RKPTZ-1)

Anti-torpedo nets hung from the sides of the ship were effective enough to combat torpedoes. The torpedo, hitting the nets, exploded at a safe distance from the ship or lost its speed. The nets were also used to protect ship docks, canals and port waters.

To combat torpedoes using various types of homing, ships and submarines are equipped with simulators and sources of interference, which complicate the operation of various control systems. In addition, various measures are taken to reduce the physical fields of the ship.
Modern ships are equipped with active anti-torpedo protection systems. Such systems include, for example, the Udav-1 (RKPTZ-1) anti-torpedo missile defense system, which uses three types of ammunition (diverter projectile, minelayer projectile, deep-seated projectile), a ten-barreled automated launcher with tracking drives, fire control devices, loading and feeding devices. (English)

Video


Torpedo Whitehead 1876


Howell torpedo of 1898

The nomenclature of German torpedoes at first glance may seem extremely confusing, however, there were only two main types of torpedoes on submarines, differing in different options for fuses and course control systems. In fact, these two types, the G7a and G7e, were modifications of the 500mm G7 torpedo used during the First World War. By the beginning of World War II, the torpedo caliber was standardized and adopted equal to 21 inches (533 mm). The standard torpedo length was 7.18 m, the explosive mass of the warhead was 280 kg. Due to the 665 kg battery, the G7e torpedo was 75 kg heavier than the G7a (1603 and 1528 kg, respectively).

The fuses used to detonate torpedoes were a source of great concern for submariners, and many failures were recorded at the beginning of the war. By the beginning of World War II, the G7a and G7e torpedoes were in service with a Pi1 contact-non-contact fuse, triggered by a torpedo hitting the ship's hull, or by the effect of a magnetic field created by the ship's hull (modifications TI and TII, respectively). It soon became clear that torpedoes with a proximity fuse often fire ahead of time or do not explode at all when passing under the target. Already at the end of 1939, changes were made to the fuse design, which made it possible to disconnect the non-contact circuit of the contactor. However, this was not a solution to the problem: now, when torpedoes hit the side of the ship, they did not explode at all. After identifying the causes and eliminating the defects from May 1940, the torpedo weapons of German submarines reached a satisfactory level, except for the fact that the operable Pi2 contact-non-contact fuse, and even then only for the G7e torpedoes of the TIII modification, entered service by the end of 1942 ( The Pi3 fuse developed for the G7a torpedoes was used in limited quantities from August 1943 to August 1944 and was considered insufficiently reliable).

Submarine torpedo tubes were usually housed inside a sturdy hull in the bow and stern. The exception was submarines of the VIIA type, on which one torpedo tube was installed in the stern superstructure. The ratio of the number of torpedo tubes and the displacement of the submarine, and the ratio of the number of bow and stern torpedo tubes remained standard. On the new submarines of the XXI and XXIII series, stern torpedo tubes were structurally absent, which ultimately led to some improvement in speed qualities when moving under water.

The torpedo tubes of German submarines had a number of interesting design features. The change in the depth of travel and the angle of rotation of the gyroscope of the torpedoes could be carried out directly in the devices, from the calculating device (SRP) located in the conning tower. As another feature, it should be noted the possibility of storing and setting TMB and TMC non-contact mines from a torpedo tube.

TYPES OF TORPED

TI (G7a)

This torpedo was a relatively simple weapon that was propelled by steam generated by burning alcohol in a stream of air coming from a small cylinder. The TI (G7a) torpedo had two propellers rotating in antiphase. On the G7a, the 44, 40 and 30-knot modes could be set, in which it could pass 5500, 7500 and 12500 m, respectively (later, as the torpedo was improved, the cruising range increased to 6000, 8000 and 12500 m). The main disadvantage of the torpedo was the bubble trail, and therefore it was more expedient to use it at night.

TII (G7e)

The TII (G7e) had a lot in common with the TI (G7a), but was powered by a small 100 hp electric motor that turned two propellers. The TII (G7e) torpedo did not create a noticeable wake, developed a speed of 30 knots and had a range of up to 3000 m. The G7e production technology was worked out so efficiently that the manufacture of electric torpedoes turned out to be simpler and cheaper compared to the steam-gas analogue. As a result, the usual ammunition load of the Series VII submarine at the beginning of the war consisted of 10-12 G7e torpedoes and only 2-4 G7a torpedoes.

TIII (G7e)

The TIII (G7e) torpedo developed a speed of 30 knots and had a range of up to 5000 m. The improved version of the TIII (G7e) torpedo, adopted in 1943, was designated TIIIa (G7e); This modification had an improved battery design and a torpedo heating system in the torpedo tube, which made it possible to increase the effective range to 7500 m. The FaT guidance system was installed on the torpedoes of this modification.

TIV (G7es) "Falke" ("Hawk")

In early 1942, German designers managed to develop the first acoustic homing torpedo based on the G7e. This torpedo received the designation TIV (G7es) "Falke" ("Hawk") and was put into service in July 1943, but almost never used in combat (about 100 pieces were manufactured). The torpedo had a proximity fuse, the explosive mass of its warhead was 274 kg, but with a sufficiently long range of action - up to 7500 m - it had a reduced speed - only 20 knots. The peculiarities of the propagation of the noise of the propellers under water required firing from the aft heading angles of the target, but the likelihood of catching up with it with such a slow torpedo was low. As a result, the TIV (G7es) was recognized as suitable only for firing at large vehicles moving at a speed of no more than 13 knots.

TV (G7es) "Zaunkonig" ("Wren")

Further development of the TIV (G7es) "Falke" ("Hawk") was the development of a homing acoustic torpedo TV (G7es) "Zaunkonig" ("Wren"), which entered service in September 1943. This torpedo was intended primarily to fight the escort ships of the Allied convoys, although it could be successfully used against transport ships. It was based on the G7e electric torpedo, but its maximum speed was reduced to 24.5 knots to reduce the torpedo's own noise. This gave a positive effect - the cruising range increased to 5750 m.

The TV (G7es) "Zaunkonig" ("Wren") torpedo had the following significant drawback - it could take the boat itself as a target. Although the homing device was activated after passing 400 m, it was standard practice after launching a torpedo to immediately submerge the submarine to a depth of at least 60 m.

TXI (G7es) "Zaunkonig-II" ("Wren-II")

To combat acoustic torpedoes, the Allies began to use a simple Foxer device, towed by the escort ship and creating noise, after which in April 1944 the TXI (G7es) Zaunkonig-II homing acoustic torpedo was adopted by the submarines. "). It was a modification of the TV (G7es) "Zaunkonig" torpedo and was equipped with an anti-jamming homing device tuned to the characteristic frequencies of the ship's propellers. However, the homing acoustic torpedoes did not bring the expected results: out of 640 TV (G7es) and TXI (G7es) torpedoes fired on ships, 58 or 72 hits were noted according to various sources.

COURSE GUIDANCE SYSTEMS

FaT - Flachenabsuchender Torpedo

In connection with the complication of the conditions of combat activity in the Atlantic in the second half of the war, it became more and more difficult for "wolf packs" to break through the guards of convoys, as a result of which, in the fall of 1942, torpedo guidance systems underwent another modernization. Although the German designers took care of the introduction of the FaT and LuT systems in advance, providing space for them in the submarines, a small number of submarines received the FaT and LuT equipment in full.

The first prototype of the Flachenabsuchender Torpedo guidance system (horizontally maneuvering torpedo) was installed on the TI torpedo (G7a). The following control concept was implemented - the torpedo in the first section of the trajectory moved in a straight line at a distance from 500 to 12500 m and turned in any direction at an angle of up to 135 degrees across the movement of the convoy, and in the zone of destruction of enemy ships, it continued to move along an S-shaped trajectory (" snake ") at a speed of 5-7 knots, while the length of the straight section ranged from 800 to 1600 m and the circulation diameter of 300 m. As a result, the search trajectory resembled the steps of a ladder. Ideally, the torpedo was supposed to search for a target at a constant speed across the direction of movement of the convoy. The probability of hitting such a torpedo, fired from the bow heading angles of a convoy with a "snake" across the course of its movement, turned out to be very high.

Since May 1943, the next modification of the FaTII guidance system (the length of the "snake" section is 800 m) began to be installed on TII (G7e) torpedoes. Due to the short range of the electric torpedo, this modification was considered primarily as a self-defense weapon, fired from the aft torpedo tube towards the pursuing escort ship.

LuT - Lagenuabhangiger Torpedo

The Lagenuabhangiger Torpedo guidance system (self-guided torpedo) was developed to overcome the limitations of the FaT system and entered service in the spring of 1944. Compared to the previous system, the torpedoes were equipped with a second gyroscope, as a result of which it became possible to set turns twice before starting the "snake" movement. Theoretically, this made it possible for the submarine commander to attack the convoy not from the bow heading angles, but from any position - first, the torpedo overtook the convoy, then turned to its bow corners, and only after that it began to move like a "snake" across the course of the convoy's movement. The length of the "snake" section could change in any ranges up to 1600 m, while the torpedo speed was inversely proportional to the length of the section and was 10 knots for the G7a with the initial 30-knot mode set at a section length of 500 m and 5 knots with a section length of 1500 m ...

The need to make changes to the design of the torpedo tubes and the calculating device limited the number of boats prepared for the use of the LuT guidance system to only five dozen. According to historians, during the war, German submariners fired about 70 torpedoes with LuT.

ACOUSTIC GUIDANCE SYSTEMS

"Zaunkonig" ("Wren")

This device, installed on the G7e torpedoes, had acoustic target sensors, which ensured homing of the torpedoes by the cavitation noise of the propellers. However, the device had the disadvantage that when passing through a turbulent wake flow, it could be triggered prematurely. In addition, the device was capable of detecting cavitation noises only at a target speed of 10 to 18 knots at a distance of about 300 m.

"Zaunkonig-II" ("Wren-II")

This device had acoustic target sensors tuned to the characteristic frequencies of the ship's propellers in order to exclude the possibility of premature operation. Torpedoes equipped with this device were used with some success as a means of dealing with escort ships; the torpedo was launched from the stern apparatus towards the pursuing enemy.

The first torpedoes differed from modern ones no less than a paddle-wheel steam frigate from a nuclear-powered aircraft carrier. In 1866, the "skat" carried 18 kg of explosives at a distance of 200 m at a speed of about 6 knots. Shooting accuracy was below any criticism. By 1868, the use of coaxial propellers rotating in different directions made it possible to reduce the yaw of the torpedo in the horizontal plane, and the installation of a pendulum mechanism for controlling the rudders made it possible to stabilize the depth of travel.

By 1876, Whitehead's brainchild was sailing at a speed of about 20 knots and covered a distance of two cables (about 370 m). Two years later, torpedoes had their say on the battlefield: Russian sailors with "self-propelled mines" sent the Turkish escort ship "Intibah" to the bottom of the Batumi raid.

Submarine torpedo compartment
If you do not know what destructive power the "fish" lying on the shelves have, then you can not guess. On the left are two torpedo tubes with open covers. The top one is not yet charged.

The further evolution of torpedo weapons until the middle of the 20th century is reduced to an increase in the charge, range, speed and ability of torpedoes to stay on course. It is fundamentally important that for the time being the general ideology of weapons remained exactly the same as in 1866: the torpedo was supposed to hit the target's side and explode on impact.

Direct-going torpedoes remain in service to this day, periodically finding use in the course of all kinds of conflicts. They were the ones who sunk the Argentine cruiser General Belgrano in 1982, which became the most famous victim of the Falklands War.

The British nuclear submarine Conqueror then fired three Mk-VIII torpedoes at the cruiser, which have been in service with the Royal Navy since the mid-1920s. The combination of a nuclear submarine and antediluvian torpedoes looks funny, but let's not forget that the cruiser built in 1938 by 1982 had more museum than military value.

The revolution in torpedo business was made by the appearance in the middle of the 20th century of homing and telecontrol systems, as well as proximity fuses.

Modern homing systems (CCH) are divided into passive - "catching" physical fields created by the target, and active - looking for a target, usually using sonar. In the first case, we are talking most often about the acoustic field - the noise of screws and mechanisms.

The homing systems, which locate the wake of the ship, stand somewhat apart. Numerous small air bubbles remaining in it change the acoustic properties of the water, and this change is reliably "caught" by the torpedo's sonar far behind the stern of the passing ship. Having fixed the trail, the torpedo turns in the direction of the target's movement and searches, moving like a "snake". Wake tracking, the main method of homing torpedoes in the Russian navy, is considered reliable in principle. True, a torpedo, forced to catch up with the target, wastes time and precious cable paths on this. And the submarine, in order to shoot "on the trail", has to get closer to the target than it would, in principle, be allowed by the range of the torpedo. This does not increase the chances of survival.

The second most important innovation was the torpedo telecontrol systems that were widespread in the second half of the 20th century. As a rule, the torpedo is controlled by a cable that is unwound as it moves.

The combination of controllability with a proximity fuse made it possible to radically change the very ideology of using torpedoes - now they are focused on diving under the keel of the attacked target and exploding there.

Mine nets
Squadron battleship "Emperor Alexander II" during testing of the Bullivant system's mine action network. Kronstadt, 1891
Catch her with your net!

The first attempts to shield ships from the new threat were made in a few years after its appearance. The concept looked simple: on board the ship were attached folding shots, from which a steel net hung down, stopping torpedoes.

On testing the novelty in England in 1874, the network successfully repelled all attacks. Similar tests carried out in Russia a decade later yielded a slightly worse result: the net, designed to withstand a burst of 2.5 tons, withstood five out of eight shots, but the three torpedoes that pierced it got entangled by the screws and were still stopped.

The most striking episodes of the biography of anti-torpedo networks relate to the Russian-Japanese war. However, by the beginning of the First World War, the speed of the torpedoes exceeded 40 knots, and the charge reached hundreds of kilograms. To overcome obstacles, special cutters began to be installed on the torpedoes. In May 1915, the English battleship Triumph, which was shelling Turkish positions at the entrance to the Dardanelles, was sunk by a single shot from a German submarine despite the lowered nets - a torpedo penetrated the defense. By 1916, the collapsed "chain mail" was perceived more as a useless load than as protection.

(IMG: http: //topwar.ru/uploads/posts/2011-04/1303281376_2712117058_5c8c8fd7bf_o_1300783343_full.jpg) Wall off

The energy of the blast wave decreases rapidly with distance. It would be logical to place an armored bulkhead at some distance from the outer skin of the ship. If it withstands the impact of the blast wave, then the damage to the ship will be limited to the flooding of one or two compartments, and the power plant, ammunition storage and other vulnerable spots will not be affected.

Apparently, the first idea of ​​a constructive PTZ was put forward by the former chief builder of the English fleet E. Read in 1884, but his idea was not supported by the Admiralty. The British preferred to follow the traditional path at that time in the projects of their ships: to divide the hull into a large number of watertight compartments and cover the engine-boiler rooms with coal pits located on the sides.
Such a system for protecting the ship from artillery shells was repeatedly tested at the end of the 19th century and, on the whole, looked effective: the coal piled in the pits regularly “caught” the shells and did not catch fire.

The system of anti-torpedo bulkheads was first implemented in the French Navy on the experimental battleship "Henri IV", built according to the design of E. Bertin. The essence of the idea was to smoothly round the bevels of the two armored decks down, parallel to the side and at some distance from it. Bertin's design did not go to war, and it was probably for the best - the caisson built according to this scheme, imitating the "Henri" compartment, was destroyed during testing by an explosion of a torpedo charge attached to the skin.

In a simplified form, this approach was implemented on the Russian battleship "Tsesarevich", built in France and according to the French project, as well as on the EDR of the "Borodino" type, which copied the same project. The ships received as anti-torpedo protection a longitudinal armored bulkhead 102 mm thick, which was 2m away from the outer skin. This did not help the Tsarevich too much - having received a Japanese torpedo during the Japanese attack on Port Arthur, the ship spent several months under repair.

The English navy relied on coal pits until roughly until the construction of the Dreadnought. However, an attempt to test this protection in 1904 ended in failure. The ancient armored battering ram "Belile" acted as a "guinea pig". Outside, a cofferdam 0.6 m wide was attached to its body, filled with cellulose, and six longitudinal bulkheads were erected between the outer skin and the boiler room, the space between which was filled with coal. The explosion of a 457-mm torpedo made a 2.5x3.5 m hole in this structure, demolished the cofferdam, destroyed all bulkheads except the last one, and puffed up the deck. As a result, the "Dreadnought" received armor screens that covered the cellars of the towers, and subsequent battleships were built with full-size longitudinal bulkheads along the length of the hull - the design idea came to a single decision.

Gradually, the design of the PTZ became more complicated, and its dimensions increased. Combat experience has shown that the main thing in constructive protection is depth, that is, the distance from the explosion site to the ship's entrails covered by the protection. A single bulkhead was replaced by intricate designs that consisted of several compartments. To push the "epicenter" of the explosion as far as possible, boules were widely used - longitudinal attachments mounted on the hull below the waterline.

One of the most powerful is the PTZ of the French battleships of the "Richelieu" class, which consisted of an anti-torpedo and several dividing bulkheads that formed four rows of protective compartments. The outer one, which had an almost 2-meter width, was filled with foam rubber filler. This was followed by a row of empty compartments, followed by fuel tanks, then another row of empty compartments designed to collect the fuel spilled during the explosion. Only after that, the blast wave had to stumble upon the anti-torpedo bulkhead, after which another row of empty compartments followed - in order to certainly catch everything that had leaked. On the Jean Bar battleship of the same type, the PTZ was reinforced with boules, as a result of which its total depth reached 9.45 m.

On the American battleships of the North Caroline class, the PTZ system was formed by a boule and five bulkheads - though not of armor, but of ordinary shipbuilding steel. The boule cavity and the compartment following it were empty, the next two compartments were filled with fuel or seawater. The last, inner, compartment was empty again.
In addition to protecting against underwater explosions, numerous compartments could be used to level the bank, flooding them as needed.

Needless to say, such a waste of space and displacement was a luxury allowed only on the largest ships. The next series of American battleships (South Dacota) received a boiler-turbine installation of different dimensions - shorter and wider. And it was no longer possible to increase the width of the hull - otherwise the ships would not have passed through the Panama Canal. The result was a decrease in the PTZ depth.

Despite all the tricks, the defense lagged behind the weapons all the time. The PTZ of the same American battleships was designed for a torpedo with a 317-kg charge, but after their construction, the Japanese had torpedoes with charges of 400 kg TNT and more. As a result, the commander of the North Caroline, which was hit by a Japanese 533-mm torpedo in the fall of 1942, honestly wrote in his report that he never considered the ship's underwater protection to be adequate for a modern torpedo. However, the damaged battleship then remained afloat.

Do not let you reach the goal

The advent of nuclear weapons and guided missiles has radically changed the views on weapons and defense of the warship. The fleet parted with the multi-turret battleships. On the new ships, the place of gun turrets and armored belts was taken by missile systems and radars. The main thing was not to withstand the hit of the enemy shell, but simply to prevent it.

The approach to anti-torpedo protection changed in a similar way - although the bullets with bulkheads did not disappear completely, they clearly receded into the background. The task of today's PTZ is to shoot down the right course torpedo, confusing its homing system, or simply destroy it on the way to the target.

The "gentleman's set" of modern PTZ includes several generally accepted devices. The most important of them are hydroacoustic countermeasures, both towed and fired. A device floating in water creates an acoustic field, in other words, it makes noise. The noise from the GPA means can confuse the homing system, either imitating the noises of the ship (much louder than itself), or "hammering" enemy hydroacoustics with interference. Thus, the American AN / SLQ-25 "Nixie" system includes torpedo diverters towed at a speed of up to 25 knots and six-barreled launchers for firing by means of GPE. This is accompanied by automation that determines the parameters of attacking torpedoes, signal generators, own sonar systems and much more.

In recent years, there have been reports of the development of the AN / WSQ-11 system, which should provide not only the suppression of homing devices, but also the defeat of anti-torpedoes at a distance of 100 to 2000 m). A small counter-torpedo (152 mm caliber, 2.7 m length, 90 kg weight, range 2-3 km) is equipped with a steam turbine power plant.

Tests of prototypes have been carried out since 2004, and they are expected to enter service in 2012. There is also information about the development of a supercavitating anti-torpedo capable of reaching speeds of up to 200 knots, similar to the Russian "Shkval", but there is practically nothing to tell about it - everything is carefully covered by a veil of secrecy.

Developments in other countries look similar. French and Italian aircraft carriers are equipped with the joint development of the SLAT PTZ system. The main element of the system is a towed antenna, which includes 42 radiating elements and 12-pipe devices mounted on board for firing self-propelled or drifting vehicles of the GPD "Spartakus". It is also known about the development of an active system that fires anti-torpedoes.

It is noteworthy that in the series of reports about various developments, no information has yet appeared about something that could knock off the course of a torpedo following the wake of the ship.

The Russian fleet is currently armed with the Udav-1M and Packet-E / NK anti-torpedo systems. The first of them is designed to defeat or deflect torpedoes attacking the ship. The complex can fire projectiles of two types. The 111CO2 diverter projectile is designed to divert the torpedo from the target.

The 111SZG defensive depth shells allow you to form a kind of minefield in the path of the attacking torpedo. At the same time, the probability of hitting a straight-forward torpedo with one salvo is 90%, and a homing one - about 76. The "Package" complex is designed to destroy torpedoes attacking a surface ship with counter-torpedoes. Open sources say that its use reduces the likelihood of hitting a ship by a torpedo by about 3–3.5 times, but it seems likely that this figure has not been tested in combat conditions, like all the others.