Note about batteries and missiles: The Cannalans struggled mightily with battery weight issues when their first started making guided missiles. You have a copy of their second-generation missile called the
Hellfire (you call it the piracy warning) which is NOT super-sonic, although it's fast. Their third-generation missile the
Balefire was only made supersonic after a revision which reduced battery weight, so it effectively took them four attempts. In any case, for the price and amount of battery cells needed, lead-acid batteries were the standard choice on all submarines of this era (and most general applications) as far as I am aware.
Man, I didn't think naming it the Archer II would have cursed it so badly. At least we didn't go for the missile sub with that roll.
UFN-SS-45 "Boot"
So named because several engineers were given the boot over the Archer II project, because it sounds similar to the successful German Unterseeboots, and also because some believe it's now bad luck to name any naval vessel "Archer". All records that the submarine was ever named Archer are expunged, and written over with "Boot", which is now the term to describe that something has been censored.
Firstly, the lead-acid batteries are fixed to no longer leak, which should improve its endurance slightly. The engineers who decided we needed to hunt for Cannalan ghosts are booted overboard, and the parascope replaced with a periscope. The passive sonar from the Whalesong mine is added to the bow to assist in stealthy detection of enemy ships.
Finally, a variant of the Dolphin torpedo, the UFN-TPD-45 "Orca" torpedo is developed, which is simply a Dolphin torpedo upscaled with enough fuel to double its range, retaining the gyroscope-assisted running and magnetic detonator of the Dolphin, as well as warhead size.
Differences from the others:
-Doesn't include active sonar but settles for passive. From what I've researched online (here and here and here, as well as wiki) extremely few subs in WWII were equipped with active sonar, and those that did have it rarely used it to target enemy ships, because it gave away their presence and possibly their position. Active sonar was more employed as an anti-submarine measure on surface ships, and also used by submarines to detect other submarines during the Cold War.
-Doesn't include weapons topside, because by this stage in the war it was infeasible to mount sufficient antiair weaponry to deter air attack on submarines, see the U-flak concept. Admittedly the Germans didn't have guided SAMs, but then the aircraft in our war are also much more advanced.
-Instead, focuses on fixing the defects and developing a longer-ranged torpedo to enable more effective attack. I don't think the Dolphin is really all that ineffective as to render the submarine ineffective too, but it seems to be what people wanted.
Now Cnid I thought
you were the one who made fun of design proposals including several reasons for the design's name?
ps plz update sky crusaders kthxbyeVery Hard: 6
UFN-SS-45 "Boot": The Archer II design has been revised with a few new features. The engineers have worked triple-time to get them all in before the deadline. It includes improved battery containment which makes sulfuric acid leaks very rare. It also has a crude passive sonar based on the whalesong mine which can detect the presence, but not range, of a ship for some 40 kilometers or so, in eight directions. Lastly, it includes the "Orca" Torpedo, an extended Dolphin with much more fuel so that it can reach more than twice the range the original, while having the same warhead size and other features.
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Topic: Intercontinental Arms Race: Finale (Read 602598 times)