ORIGINAL: wellss
ORIGINAL: hugger-4641
The Navy does the same thing to the skins of nuclear submarine. I woudn't think 12 percent is too big a stretch.
I reckon that's more to do with reflecting sound waves to become harder to detect, rather than a decrease in drag ? But, if it serves both purposes...I suppose it's a good thing.
Well, the dimpled area is intended to reduce drag in the water. The "dimples" are much smaller and do little to actually "reflect sonar", however the reduced drag does enable the sub to slip through the water more quietly, thus making it harder to "hear" and its wake less "visible" to sonar. These smaller "dimples" create almost microscopic areas of turbulance, but the concept is the same as the golf ball. There are also other things done with the shape and construction of the hull that help reduce sonar detection, but that's another topic.
