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Originally Posted by Dr.Sid
Why shoot captors from sub when you can shoot torpedo ? Give me one example where it would be an advantage.
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Traditionally ASW has relied upon the combination of modestly effective weapons so that the net result is far better than would be expected individually.
In a realistically sized submarine barrier, the submarine might not be able to detect and destroy but a fraction of the targets attempting to transit through it's area. In order help prevent targets from transiting the choke point, then, one might set up a minefield (SLMMs, CAPTORs, some Russian thing-a-ma-jigs, it doesn't matter) behind them. In order to be effective, minefields must be a certain density, and occaisionally be replenished. In order to do that, a certain fraction of a submarine's inventory might be devoted to mines.
So... suppose given the acoustic conditions, weapon effectiveness, and the size of a choke point, a submarine expect to have a 0.75 probability of detecting and killing a transiting target. That's not really great, so to supplement it, suppose a diffuse minefield with only a 0.25 probability of a target hitting a mine is placed behind it. The probability that a transitor is killed by one or the other is 1 - ( (1-0.25)*(1-0.75) ) = 0.81, which is better!
Now... suppose there is an MPA patrolling on the other side of the mine field...
Get the idea? Mines are fun. You use them in combination with other assets to create barriers that are nearly impermeable.