Naval warfare has never been a suspenseful, deliberate game—one of high-stakes cat and mouse, where every technological advance compels navies to rewrite their playbooks. Occasionally, however, a
The heart of this change is a fantastic idea called supercavitation. Simply put, it’s the technology of shooting an object through water at such high speed that it creates a bubble of gas around it, cutting down on drag to near zero. Water is roughly a thousand times denser than air, so underwater resistance is gigantic. Put a torpedo inside a bubble and lo and behold, it can “fly” across the ocean at velocities previously reserved for fantasy.
Its engineering is both brilliant and merciless. A specially shaped nose cone cooperates with onboard gas generators to keep the bubble of gas at a stable size. Those traditional propellers can’t handle such speeds, so rocket propulsion shoulders the load. Steering, however, is another story. Within a bubble, rudders don’t function the same as they do in open water. Even the slightest wobble will make some portion of the torpedo touch the surrounding water and create enormous drag, or even destroy the weapon. Supercavitation is likewise hard to maintain at low speeds, so launch conditions and platform design become important considerations.
The first to crack this nut was the Soviet Union with its VA-111 Shkval, which appeared in the late 1970s. Fast enough to travel over 200 knots—approximately 370 kilometers per hour—it was too fast for any standard anti-torpedo system to catch. But at a cost: it was noisy, carried only a short range of about 10 to 15 kilometers, and could only travel straight ahead.
Its guidance was crude, and its rocket motor and bubble trail made it easy to track, exposing the submarine that fired it. Despite this, when employed in the correct context, the Shkval had the potential to be a deadly equalizer when faced with superior numbers.
Other countries followed. Iran, for instance, came up with the Hoot, heavily suspected of having been copied from the Shkval. The Hoot has been said to have matched the speed of its ancestor at a scorching 200 knots, rendering warships nearly impossible to avoid. For Iran, the weapon is neatly placed in an asymmetric strategy—employing relatively simple, difficult-to-intercept systems to threaten significantly larger and more sophisticated fleets, particularly in narrow seas such as the Persian Gulf.
The strategic implications are profound. Supercavitating torpedoes reduce the reaction time for the defenders to seconds. In classical submarine warfare, ships and submarines may have the luxury of time to detect, pursue, and avoid coming under attack. With such weapons, the clock runs out, and the slightest misstep—or even a pause for reflection—may prove disastrous. They can be launched from submarines, surface vessels, or even coastal bases, with the added flexibility as both an offensive and psychological force.
Sure, they have disadvantages. A linear attack profile makes them less effective against evasive or agile targets. Their noise can give away the position of the launching ship, and their short range compels attackers to close in, where they can be countered. Engineers are experimenting with how to make the guidance better—using vectored thrust or magnetic steering—but physics remains a recalcitrant foe.
The quest to further develop the technology has not abated. Russia is continually refining the Shkval, testing improved guidance and longer ranges. Iran forges ahead with its upgrades. Western navies, meanwhile, are working on countermeasures, creating faster-acting sensors, and even working on their supercavitating designs.
The next step might be to incorporate artificial intelligence into guidance systems so that torpedoes can change course en route, operate in coordinated swarms, and better identify real targets versus decoys. Initial testing has already demonstrated AI-augmented targeting to be significantly more precise than previous generations of guidance.
The future of submarine warfare is leaving behind the slowness and hesitation of previous combat. The emergence of supercavitating torpedoes is heading toward an age where battles could be won in seconds, rather than minutes, and where there’s virtually no room for mistake. Naval planners’ challenge is now as pressing as it is obvious: change to this new way of warfare, or be outrun and outgunned below the sea.