New Scientist Shock tactics to destroy torpedoes - Technology: “THE US navy wants to protect its warships with a system that will destroy incoming torpedoes by firing massive underwater shock waves at them.
The ships would be equipped with arrays of 360 transducers each 1 metre square - effectively big flat-panel loudspeakers - running along either side of the hull below the waterline. When the ship’s sonar detects an incoming torpedo, the transducers simultaneously fire an acoustic shock wave of such intensity that the torpedo either detonates early or is disabled by the pulse’s crushing force, according to the Defence Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA), which is funding the project.”
I considered putting this under Science Phile, but I thought that might be somewhat misleading as to my perspective. I regard it as far more important that there may be an effective anti-torpedo technology — thus directly saving the lives of thousands of American sailors and indirectly protecting tens of thousands of Coalition combatants– than that on the relatively infrequent occasions when this device is tested or used, it may cause some harm to marine wildlife. Sorry, Flipper!
For better or worse, humans are the most important species on this precious green earth that shines so brightly against a dark background.
Update: Zoe Brain offers some plausible skepticism.
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