Well, I've been corrected by LW that ownship speed doesn't matter as long as you're not in washout range, so I retract my statement about needing to retest controlling for speed. All testing was done at tactical speed and washout was not a factor.
I also want to express my agreement with LW concerning the fact that the NL's and sonar sensitity has not been changed for ages. I've been playing with these levels for a long time now, and it's always been absolutely clear that the American subs had a substantial detection range advantage due to the combination of quieter subs and superior sonar. In fact, the principal fair matchup in LW/Ami was the 688I vs the Akula II, instead of the SW vs. Akula II, because the SW just pwned the Akulas. (1.04 probably tips the matchup back to the SW).
I can only guess this issue is surfacing now instead of when the sonar sensititivies were set because of the changes in 1.04. But, what these test results make abundantly clear is that even in sonar conditions that favor long-range detection (being inside a surface duct), the Seawolf can close with an Akula-II to within no-escape range without ever being detected. And that's without playing any layer tricks. It's only a matter of time before SW skippers learn to control their speed at the right times to become proficient at doing this, and once that happens, it will be the Akula skippers bitching and moaning about the balance changes in LW/Ami--because they are going to die without ever having detected the launching platform, and CMs aren't going to defeat wireguided torps guided in from less than 8nm.
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