grant@psych.toronto.edu (Stuart Grant) (06/14/91)
From: grant@psych.toronto.edu (Stuart Grant) A few years ago when Canada was considering buying some nuclear powered submarines, there were a few alternatives being kicked around. One was called AMPS -autonomous marine power source. The particular solution I am interested in was a hybrid nuclear-conventional sub that someone dubbed an SSn. The sub would have a very small reactor, similar to the Canadian slowpoke reactor, which could move the sub at about 7 knots and charge the batteries. The batteries could be used for sprints in the low 30 knot range. This sounded like a good solution. It would be air-independent, allowing under ice operations for the Canadian Arctic, cheap (the slowpoke plug could be added to a sub for about $40 million, extensive shore facilities not required, less training needed than for other nukes), and safer than other nuclear powered options. Since that time (1986-1988, time of Beatty's White Paper?) the pursuit of a Canadian sub fleet has been dropped, but is the AMPS system still being developed? What are some of the problems with this type of power system? A related question, how well do torpedos perform under ice? Since the underside of iceflows can be very irregular, could a target submarine surface through the ice, or as close as possible to the ice, and either become very difficult to find, or become difficult/impossible to attack with a torpedo?