The rumor was that this was what the Kursk was testing when it sank. Easy to see how having one go off in the torpedo room might ruin your whole day.

It's not just the super-duper high-speed submarine rockets that present a threat to our fleet. I wrote about the improvements in non-nuclear powered subs soon to be available on the international arms market.

My time aboard an old diesel sub highlighted the advantages enjoyed by 1950s-era pigboats, when used correctly. The admirals in the Pentagon are rightly worried -- or they should be.

I really should hop the link and read before I comment. For what it's worth, there are also stories about attempts to implement similar technology in the air, using microwave emitters in the leading edge of wings, to create a free-plasma layer and reduce drag. Speeds should be hypersonic, but there are heat issues of Space Shuttle magnitude. The indicative humor on this point of those who go such places, i.e. Groom Lake, is that if you saw it go past it wasn't that big of a secret.

I remember the SA article. I came up with ideas about submersible craft that could do mach 5 underwater. One could literally fly underwater from Seattle to Vladivostok in a few hours. Overwater flights would become a thing of the past.

The problem with the concept is steering the missile; apparently the Russians have achieved incredible speeds in a straight-line shot, but they haven't figured out how to maneuver.

What about the whales? Will somebody please think of the whales?

Why would you need to worry about maneuvering if nothing you aim it at can move faster?