Modern motor torpedo boat

[KonTim]

Let's say a decision been made to design a class of modern torpedo boat.What should be the characteristics in terms of design,armament and speed?

 

[Grey Havoc]

Are thinking of a hydrofoil, surface effect vehicle, hovercraft, or perhaps a semi-submersible?

 

[KonTim]

Rather a conventional design.

 

[Jemiba]

For a country like Sweden or Norway maybe a stealthy design armed with modern long range torpedoes could
still be worthwhile for coastal defence. Cheaper than submarines, they could be build in greater numbers, hiding
between small islands, getting target information via network without the need for radar emissions. I just think,
that the need has more or less evapourated.

 

[KonTim]

For countries like Greece that have still enemies,with a huge number of islands,rock islands and islets i think that the MTBs would be an excellent choice.Desired characteristics:displacement of 150-200 tons,maximum speed 45+ knots,armament 4-6 torpedo tubes (possibly armed with Shkval) 1 40-76 mm forward gun,1 25-30mm after gun+Hellfires or Stingers.

 

[perttime]

How is a torpedo boat better than a missile boat?

 

[KonTim]

Torpedo boats and missile boats acts in a supplementary basis,they are not competitive weapons.And don't forget that the torpedo is far lethal weapon than the SSM,more difficult to be destroyed or be deceived than the missile.BTW what was the last torpedo boat design been in service by Soviet navy?The Soviets used to operate them along with missile boats-i think that the standard formation was 3X2 teams of missile boats + 1X2 team of torpedo boats.

 

[Avimimus]

It also provides more flexibility for engaging sub-surface targets.

 

[Jemiba]

How is a torpedo boat better than a missile boat?

Maybe better for a surprise attack, if using something like a Spearfish torpedo with pump jet
propulsion. Especially in noisy coastal waters the target gets later warning of the incoming weapon.

 

[tround]

In the archipelagic waters of sweden , the ranges are pretty short . I think that even a stealthy torpedo boat can be detected and engaged .
How many a torpedo boat can be stealthy ? If I remember correctly , 10% of its tonnage and 10% for a stealthy torpedo boat , so a RCS of 2 square meters .
The other problem is the time for hit the target . The target also can also " run " or riposte with canon .

Like the war of the Gulf war proved it, they are very vulnerable to the air raids .
They must be equipped with anti-missile antiaircraft missiles of medium range. I think that weight should be added .

 

[tround]

http://www.wass.it/WASSWEB/brochure/black_shark.pdf

 

[Abraham Gubler]

And don't forget that the torpedo is far lethal weapon than the SSM,more difficult to be destroyed or be deceived than the missile.

Maybe in the 1980s but not so in the current era. A homing torpedo is pretty much a single mode system and missiles can use multi mode seekers; making the later more resilient to decoy. And in anti-torpedo decoying they are no longer just range stealers with the Torbuster adding a lethal component. And it’s much easier for a decoy to destroy a torpedo under water than a decoy to destroy a passing missile (lower speed of engagement plus denser medium to impart force).

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But a torpedo armed motor boat is actually a very good idea for coast defence at the moment. But it would have to be a submersible boat. Current fast attack craft are highly vulnerable to naval helicopters armed with guided missiles. MH-60 with Hellfire and Lynx with Se Skua and so on would (and did) make an absolute mess of the various fleets of FACs. The only defence against this is loading lots of anti air capability onto your FAC making for a corvette or hiding the FAC from the surface search and attack helicopters.

I’ve always thought there was a lot of potential in the WWII German design for the Manta mini submarine. It has excellent surface mobility for getting from A to B and can submerge for stealth. Update something like this to a reasonable size and add some missiles and/or torpedoes and you would have a far more capable coast defence weapon than the current fleets of helicopter bait.

 

[tround]

In " turbulent " waters , yes . A foe would need many sonars .

 

[perttime]

The range of a torpedo is shorter than that of most missiles, so the torpedo boat needs to get closer to the target without being destroyed first.
In archipelagos, the range gets even shorter for torpedos - unless I'm mistaken about the capabilities of a torpedo to go around a few islands and islets before heading for the target.

 

[KonTim]

A MTB is a sneaky weapon,a weapon of ambush.She will stay close to the coast if full silence waiting for her prey.When the target shows up she will leave her hide position in full speed launching her torpedoes and than disengage.