EP1549544B1 - Functional ergonomic use of a submarine comprising several resistant hulls - Google Patents

Description

The present invention relates to the field of submarines, and more particularly the organization of their architecture.

• d'une part, du point de vue du risque de voie d'eau incoercible, il est nécessaire de mettre en place un dispositif de compartiment(s) refuge(s) nécessitant des cloisons résistantes intérieures, sauf à faire l'impasse sur la capacité à sauver tout ou partie de l'équipage en cas d'envahissement.
• ensuite, la disposition relative des différents compartiments ainsi que les fonctions attribuées aux parois qui les délimitent sont souvent complexes à organiser en raison des nombreux facteurs à prendre en compte :
  • * intervention de l'équipage
  • * possibilité d'agressions variées et d'enchaînements d'agressions,
  • * hautes exigences en matière de performances transverses (discrétion acoustique, tenue aux chocs, tenue à l'incendie,...),
  • * contraintes fonctionnelles des installations,
• enfin, d'un point de vue opérationnel, il est particulièrement délicat de pouvoir donner au sous-marin, durant toute sa vie, une grande flexibilité vis à vis des différents types de missions qu'il est susceptible de devoir assurer. Ceci conduit traditionnellement, d'une part à concevoir le sous-marin pour pouvoir assurer le maximum de types de mission simultanément, et d'autre part à « réserver » dès la conception des provisions significatives en volume et en masse pour faire face aux modernisations ultérieures. Ces deux préoccupations sont en général contradictoires. Il est en outre souvent nécessaire d'envisager au moins une refonte lourde du bâtiment à mi-vie pour l'actualiser.

On a submarine, the naval architect usually encounters at least three families of difficulties:

• on the one hand, from the point of view of the risk of uncontrollable waterway, it is necessary to set up a compartment (s) shelter (s) requiring internal resistant partitions, except to ignore the ability to save all or part of the crew in case of invasion.
• Then, the relative disposition of the different compartments as well as the functions attributed to the walls which delimit them are often complex to organize because of the numerous factors to be taken into account:
  • * crew intervention
  • * possibility of various assaults and sequences of attacks,
  • * high requirements in terms of transverse performance (acoustic discretion, impact resistance, fire resistance, etc.),
  • * functional constraints of the installations,
• finally, from an operational point of view, it is particularly difficult to be able to give the submarine, throughout his life, great flexibility vis-à-vis the different types of missions that he is likely to have to provide. This traditionally leads, on the one hand to conceive the submarine to be able to ensure the maximum of types of mission simultaneously, and on the other hand to "reserve" from the conception of the significant provisions in volume and in mass to face the modernizations later. These two concerns are usually contradictory. It is also often necessary to consider at least a heavy rebuilding of the building mid-life to update it.

Underwater resistant hull means any submarine having a hull designed to withstand the external pressure of immersion, and to allow to maintain, inside, an atmosphere suitable for both the operation of equipment and the life of the crew.
One of the aims of the invention is to overcome these difficulties by proposing a submarine architecture to avoid the construction of partitions In order to reduce the number of non-resistant partitions required and to simplify their nature, therefore, the design and construction of the submarine and, consequently, the maintenance.

The solution provided is a submarine comprising propulsion means, at least one command post and at least two cylindrical spindle resistant shells interconnected by a non-resistant frame, according to claim 1.

According to one characteristic, one of the hulls is of the life / operation type and normally inhabited and comprises in particular the living quarters and the command post (s) while another hull is servitude and normally uninhabited.

According to a particular characteristic, the frame between shell comprises at least one resistant tunnel capable of allowing the passage of a shell in the other.

According to a preferred characteristic, the tunnel comprises at least one sealed and resistant door.

According to another characteristic, the submarine comprises a massif located on the frame between hulls and the tunnel communicates with the interior of the massif.

According to one particular advantageous characteristic, said servitude-type hull includes a weapons launch compartment.

According to another particular characteristic, the life / operation type shell comprises a compartment dedicated to electric propulsion by battery. In addition, the servitude hull may include a diesel propulsion compartment and at least one corresponding fuel bunker.

According to another feature, the frame between hulls contains front ballasts and rear ballasts.

• conteneur armes anti-aéronefs,
• conteneur armes anti-navires
• conteneur armes anti-terre
• conteneur armes mixtes ,
• conteneur mines
• conteneur SIR
• conteneur communication ·
• conteneur réceptacle UUV,
• conteneur soutien aux opérations spéciales,
• conteneur mâts.

According to an additional characteristic, the frame between shells comprises housings able to receive modules whose applications are multiple:

• container anti-aircraft weapons,
• container anti-ship weapons
• container anti-land weapons
• mixed weapons container,
• mine container
• SIR container
• communication container ·
• UUV container container,
• special operations support container,
• container masts.

According to an additional characteristic, each housing comprises an interface capable of supplying the corresponding module with energies and of providing control and information links.

According to another additional characteristic, at least one of the housings comprises a weapon container and the interface comprises a control link firing these weapons from the control station.

• la figure 1 présente l'aspect extérieur d'un sous-marin selon un mode de réalisation particulier de l'invention,
• le figure 2 présente deux schémas d'agencement entre les coques et la charpente entre coques,
• la figure 3 montre une est une coupe longitudinale de chacune des coques,
• la figure 4 présente la charpente entre coques,
• la figure 5 montre des moyens de commande des conteneurs situés dans des logements.

Other advantages and features will become apparent in the description of a particular embodiment of the invention in the light of the appended figures among which:

• the figure 1 presents the external appearance of a submarine according to one particular embodiment of the invention,
• the figure 2 presents two diagrams of arrangement between the hulls and the frame between hulls,
• the figure 3 shows one is a longitudinal section of each of the hulls,
• the figure 4 presents the frame between hulls,
• the figure 5 shows control means for containers located in dwellings.

The figure 1 presents the external appearance of a submarine according to a particular embodiment of the invention.

It comprises a bridge 1 which hulls two hulls 2, 3 and which carries a massive profiled 4 sheltering the air and the watch pit and conventional means of propulsion 5 in the rear.

As shown on the figure 2 said submarine comprises two resistant shells 2 and 3 with cylindrical spindle interconnected by a metal frame 6 non-resistant.

The figure 3 has a longitudinal section of each of the shells 2 and 3.

• habitabilité, vie et survie de l'équipage et sauvetage,
• conduite du navire,
• conduite et mise en oeuvre du système de combat,
• conduite et maintenance des installations vitales,

The hull 2, in this case the starboard hull, is a shell "life / operations", normally inhabited and which brings together all of the following functions:

• livability, life and survival of the crew and rescue,
• ship's conduct,
• conduct and implementation of the combat system,
• conduct and maintenance of vital installations,

In the "life / operations" shell, all environmental parameters are optimized in terms of human factors.

• un compartiment propulsion électrique 22,
• des locaux vie 23,
• un poste de commande 24
• une annexe technique 25 pour le lancement des armes et comportant deux tubes lance torpille.

This shell 2 has two levels 20 and 21, the upper level comprising, from back to front:

• an electric propulsion compartment 22,
• living premises 23,
• a command post 24
• a technical annex 25 for the launch of weapons and comprising two torpedo launch tubes.

• une caisse d'assiette arrière 26
• un local arrière des auxiliaires 27,
• un local batterie 28,
• une caisse de réglage 29,
• un local avant des auxiliaires 30,
• une caisse d'assiette avant 31.

The lower level mainly comprises, from the back to the front:

• a rear trim box 26
• a rear room of auxiliaries 27,
• a local battery 28,
• an adjustment box 29,
• a local front auxiliaries 30,
• a front plate case 31.

• fonctions de servitude de la plate-forme propulsée,
• fonctions de calcul et de traitement de l'information,
• fonctions de stockage d'éléments non vitaux,
• survie de l'équipage en conditions dégradées,
• sauvetage.

The hull 3, in this case the port hull, is a hull "easements", normally uninhabited and automated and bringing together all of the following functions:

• servitude functions of the powered platform,
• computing and information processing functions,
• non-vital element storage functions,
• survival of the crew in degraded conditions,
• rescue.

• un compartiment propulsion 34 présent sur les deux niveaux 32 et 33,
• un compartiment annexe diesel 36
• un local diesel 37
• un compartiment annexe technique 38,
• un compartiment de stockage et de lancement des armes 39.

This shell 3 has two levels 32 and 33, the upper level 32 comprising, from the back to the front:

• a propulsion compartment 34 present on the two levels 32 and 33,
• a diesel auxiliary compartment 36
• a local diesel 37
• a technical annex compartment 38,
• a compartment for storing and throwing weapons 39.

• des soutes à gazole 40,
• une caisse de réglage 41
• un local des auxiliaires 42,
• un local batterie 43,
• une caisse de compensation des armes 44.

The lower level 33 mainly comprises, from the back to the front:

• diesel bunkers 40,
• an adjustment box 41
• a local of auxiliaries 42,
• a local battery 43,
• an arms compensation fund 44.

Given the segregation of the elements arranged in each of the shells 2 and 3, it is not necessary to build large resistant partitions to ensure the safety of the crew vis-à-vis the risks "waterway", "Fire", "air pollution", etc .... In addition, such an arrangement can significantly reduce the number of partitions and, the latter being not resistant, the passage of son and pipe is made by simple openings within these partitions. It should be noted that torpedo tubes in the hull life / operation, a torpedo is stored in each of them and they have, at each of their ends, a tight and resistant door; no other torpedoes are stored in the hull life.

In addition, submarines may become insufficient during operation, partly because of the rapid progression of the qualities of the adversaries they are likely to encounter, and secondly because of the technical evolution that allows to design new equipment that could significantly improve the submarines' ability to fulfill their missions.

It is often planned to remake the submarines mid-life, that is to say after about fifteen years of service, but the transformations made during such a redesign are still limited.

These changes are essentially aimed at improving the detection capabilities of the submarine, as well as its weapons (missiles, torpedoes or mines for example), its tactical aids and its means of transmission and navigation instruments. As a result, such transformations consist simply of replacing simple equipment with other equipment of equivalent volume, essentially in the submarine massif, the central navigation station operations, the weapons station, the forward structure of the submarine. submarine.

On a conventional submarine of low or medium displacement, the ability to carry weapons or sensors is usually limited by the small size of the hull resistant.

As regards weapons, on the one hand, the small diameter geometrically limits the number of torpedo tubes whose standard is set by a NATO standard. On the other hand, the weapons storage and launching area is a critical path for inland moving that can not be extended without significantly impacting the movement. Finally, the carriage of weapons outside the resistant hull often suffers from the modest volume available under the outer deck or the clutter of the AV or AR frames, or the often non-convex shapes that space can release. ring between a hard shell and a thin shell on a double hull ship.

• une soute à gazole 16 et plusieurs tunnels résistants 17,18,19 aptes à mettre en communication les deux coques 2 et 3,
• des logements 14,15 disposés de part et d'autre dudit massif profilé 4 et aptes à recevoir la majorité des équipements et senseurs opérationnels intégrés sous forme de modules et/ou conteneur interchangeables et évolutifs. Les applications sont multiples :
  • conteneur armes anti-aéronefs,
  • conteneur armes anti-navires
  • conteneur armes anti-terre
  • conteneur armes mixtes ,
  • conteneur mines
  • conteneur SIR
  • conteneur communication ·
  • conteneur réceptacle UUV,
  • conteneur soutien aux opérations spéciales,
  • conteneur mâts
  • autres applications.
  • Les autres dispositifs pouvant trouver une application dans le concept modulaire sont notamment le transport d'engin de sauvetage collectif, de conteneurs de gasoil supplémentaires, etc...).

Regarding the sensors, the integration of the equipment likely to improve the functionality of the combat system results in the reservation of ever larger volumes outside the thick shell. On a single-hulled submarine, the more difficult to move such volumes limits its development, an excessive proportion of the displacement of shape relative to displacement surface (or dive) being unacceptable.
The invention also makes it possible to solve these drawbacks by proposing a central structure 6 able to receive modules allowing, in particular, weapons and detection means to be significantly increased compared to that of single-hull submarines. Indeed, as shown on the figure 2 , the non-resistant frame 6 defines a space called "space between hulls" (EEC) 7. The front 8 of the submarine is structured by a frame 9 bearing on the partitions before the resistant hulls 2 and 3. It defines the space before hulls (EAVC) 10. Each hull 2.3 resistant is provided with a rear frame 11 bearing on the rear walls 12 of the resistant shells 2 and 3. A rear space shells 13 (EARC) takes place between the back of the two shells 2 and 3 and the space between shell 7.
The non-resistant metal frame 6 comprises first ballasts disposed in the space before the shell 10 and second ballasts located in the rear shell space 13 and the associated compressed air reserves. It furthermore comprises:

• a diesel bunker 16 and several resistant tunnels 17, 18, 19 able to put in communication the two hulls 2 and 3,
• housing 14,15 disposed on either side of said profile solid 4 and able to receive the majority of equipment and operational sensors integrated in the form of modules and / or container interchangeable and evolutive. The applications are multiple:
  • container anti-aircraft weapons,
  • container anti-ship weapons
  • container anti-land weapons
  • mixed weapons container,
  • mine container
  • SIR container
  • communication container ·
  • UUV container container,
  • special operations support container,
  • mast container
  • other applications.
  • Other devices that can find an application in the modular concept include the transport of collective life-saving equipment, additional fuel containers, etc ...).

One of the tunnels, referenced 18, is disposed at the level of the profile solid 4 and allows access to the latter. Each of the tunnels 17, 18, 19 has a resistant door at the level of the life / operation shell 2.
As shown on the figure 5 , the control station 24 is connected in particular at the interfaces 45, 46, 47, 48 ... situated inside the solid mass 4, inside the housings 14, 15 disposed on either side of said profile solid mass 4 as well as inside These interfaces are intended to be themselves connected to the module placed in the corresponding housing and relate to the energies as well as the control and information links. These interfaces are of standard type and, in this embodiment, they are connected to the control station by wiring. The submarine is capable of taking up slight variations in mass and center of gravity essentially affecting the modules housed in the space between the shell 7, these having similar characteristics in order to respect the equilibrium and weighing constraints.
The modules do not affect the resistant structure of the submarine and do not participate in the resistance to immersion pressure.
In construction, the presence of the aforementioned modules makes it possible to shorten the completion and arming phase of the submarine by integrating them "just in time", which improves the productivity of the shipyard and limits the tests of the engine. 'integration.

In operational service, the modules can be swapped within a few hours to a few days without requiring the submarine to land in a form of refit. Module handling accommodates ordinary port facilities. The requalification of the submarine after changing modules requires only the functional tests related to it because the architectural characteristics of the submarine are not modified (or in the same order of magnitude as during routine refueling operations).
The versatility of the submarine between the patrols is complemented by a greater facility to lend itself to upgrading or overhauling operations during its lifetime. In particular, this versatility does not require, as often on a single-hull submarine, work on the resistant hull.
In addition, the increase of armament on board is considerable since the housings located in the frame may contain arms silos that can be pulled from the control station 24 via the various interfaces between the submarine and the modules. and / or containers.

Claims (8)

1. Armoured submarine having propulsion means (5, 22, 34, 37, 40), living spaces (23), at least one command and control centre (24), characterised in that it comprises at least two cylindrical pod-type resistant shells (2, 3) interconnected by a non-resistant intershell framework (6), which delimits an intershell space (7), wherein the intershell framework (6) has seatings (14, 15) intended to receive modules and/or containers, at least one of said seatings (14, 15) has an interface (45, 16, 47, 48) suitable for supplying the corresponding module with energy and assuring command and information links, in that one of the shells (2) is for living/operations and is normally manned and comprises in particular the living spaces (23), the command and control centre (24) and means to assure the survival and rescue of the crew, while another shell (3) is of the utility type and is normally unmanned, and in that the intershell framework (6) has at least one resistant tunnel (17, 18, 19) suitable for allowing passage from one shell to the other.
2. Submarine according to claim 1, characterised in that the tunnel (17, 18, 19) has at least one watertight and resistant door.
3. Submarine according to any one of claims 1 and 2, characterised in that it has a block (4) located on the intershell framework (6) and the tunnel (18) connects with the interior of the block (4).
4. Submarine according to any one of claims 1 to 3, characterised in that said utility type shell (3) has a compartment for storing and launching weapons (39).
5. Submarine according to any one of claims 1 to 4, characterised in that the living/operations type shell (2) has a compartment (22) dedicated to battery-assisted electric propulsion.
6. Submarine according to any one of claims 1 and 5, characterised in that the utility shell has a diesel propulsion compartment (34).
7. Submarine according to any one of claims 1 and 6, characterised in that the intershell framework (6) contains fore ballast tanks and aft ballast tanks.
8. Submarine according to claim 1 or claim 7, characterised in that at least one of the seatings (14, 15) has a weapons container and the interface has a command link for firing these weapons from a command and control centre.

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