Drag drop on high-speed supercavitating vehicles and supersonic submarines

摘要

Supercavitation can significantly reduce the drag of high-speed underwater vehicles. To be located inside the cavity, the shape of the hull varies at different operating velocities and becomes very slender at high speeds. Simple estimations showed that at steady horizontal motion, the drag of a properly shaped supercavitating vehicle of a given volume decreases with increasing speed. This drag reduction opens up prospects for designing large high-speed underwater vehicles and even supersonic submarines.