The problems with torpedo practical range

[Eboreg]

While many here might rely on the official statistics of a torpedo's practical range, those statistics are somewhat of an oversimplification. It is also very important to pay attention to a torpedo's kinematic range and how fast it travels to reach said range. This may not be an issue when using modern ADCAPs but a lot of "Practical Range" figures were for torpedoes that were designed before the prospect of an enemy ship detecting the torpedo when it's launched was seriously considered. This means that, for said torpedoes, the target could easily outrun the torpedo even if it's launched from within "Practical Range". Players could easily remedy this issue by micromanaging their submarines but scenario designers don't have this luxury. If, for example, you want an old exported Kilo-class submarine with 53-65KE Wake-Homing torpedoes to pose a threat to a modern Arleigh Burke-class destroyer, you're going to merely annoy or even scare the player but you're not going to take out any of his vessels if he knows what he's doing. However, you can change the WRA to only fire at 2 nm instead of the default 4 nm so that your torpedoes do have a chance at catching up. Always keep in mind that torpedo usage is not always as cut and dry as it is with the modern US Navy so I would encourage you all to always pay attention to this detail when dealing with subs.


Oh yeah... it also pays to know when your torpedo is so good and the enemy's speed is so bad that you can fire from outside practical range and still hit your target. [:D]

[thewood1]

Doesn't CMO offer kinematic vs practical range vs theoretical range for torpedoes?

[Eboreg]

It only offers kinematic and practical ranges but, as I've noted, the "practical" range can sometimes be overly optimistic depending on when the torpedo was first manufactured and when the target was designed.