Type 09 torpedo
| Type 09 torpedo | |
|---|---|
| Type | Heavyweight torpedo |
| Place of origin |  Tarsas |
| Service history | |
| In service | 2009-present |
| Used by | Imperial Sea Legion |
| Production history | |
| Manufacturer | Anacom Industries |
| Specifications | |
| Weight | 2,121 kg |
| Length | 7.8 m |
| Diameter | 533 mm |
| Effective firing range | 25 km |
| Maximum firing range | 59 km |
| Warhead | Aluminised PBX explosive or Sodium Hydride explosives |
| Warhead weight | 385 kg |
Detonation mechanism | Proximity or contact detonation |
| Engine | Anacom Industries gas-turbine with pump-jet |
| Speed | 80 kn (150 km/h) |
Guidance system | passive / active acoustic homing + wake homing + wire guidance + Fluxgate magnetometer and on-board computer (terminal) |
Steering system | Drag fins, Thrust vectoring |
The Type 09 torpedo is a heavy torpedo used by the submarines of the Imperial Sea Legion. It can be guided by wire or by autonomous active or passive sonar, and provides both anti-submarine warfare (ASW) and anti-surface ship warfare (ASuW) capability.
It replaces the unreliable Type 91 torpedo, which was withdrawn in 2004; the high speed and high quality guidance system is designed specifically to deal with fast moving and fast diving hostile submarines, its warhead is also unique for it utilizes sodium hydride compounds / chemical reaction; on detonation a large amount of sodium powder is released, which reacts with seawater to produce large amounts of very-high-temperature hydrogen within a very short period of time, so that the temperature instantly increases to over 2,000 °C within a radius of a few dozen metres as the hydrogen reacts with oxygen, destroying the target even if not hit. Which is hoped to assist Rodarian submarines which are incapable of depths more than 400m.
The use of drag fins and thrust vectoring, allows the torpedo to rise or diver deep much quicker than a submarine, in 2011 it was announced that the torpedo's homing system was upgraded to allow the autonomous targeting system to activate and aquire a target itself after breaching the thermocline layer beneath the surface of the ocean, allowing it some high degree of automation and independent action.