What's wrong with my anticounterdetection strategy...

[Kazuaki Shimazaki II]

Downloaded the DW conversion of SC's Akula campaign, and was trying to finish Mission 2 without getting counterdetected.

My theory went like this. I would track him from his front. That way, I'd be using my more sensitive towed array (LWAMI Pelamida, and I modded it to have a sensitivity of -10 instead of -8 so if anything it should have gotten easier than for most) against his bow sonar (LWAMI setting, IIRC -18 but with lower freq limit of 800Hz) and have a comfortable acoustic advantage.

I got close enough to just catch his 60Hz line (about 7000-7500m) fading in and out, and managed to avoid counterdetection, varying from 4-8knots. Then the 688I I was tracking dived and accelerated up to 7 knots. I naturally didn't want to get close to him, so I also picked up to 7. Then I hear I've been counterdetected. I'm pitting my tail against that guy's bow and he still manages to draw or better?

What's wrong with my theory (if any) and how do I manage to avoid a judgment of counterdetection (other than going slow). I vaguely remember I had to settle for tracking him w/ counterdetection back in SC too.

And no, he didn't make a turn behind my back. I checked using Show Truth. I tried it masts up, masts down...

[Wildcat]

try checking how close you or he was to the layer. It's possible your TA was listening below the layer and he was above it, so when you sped up he heard you. Also possible that you were in an area of good sound propagation and he just happened to hear you.

Also remember the 688I has better sonar equipment than you and can hear you farther away under most conditions, especially when you go +5 knots.

[Kazuaki Shimazaki II]

Originally Posted by Wildcat

try checking how close you or he was to the layer. It's possible your TA was listening below the layer and he was above it, so when you sped up he heard you. Also possible that you were in an area of good sound propagation and he just happened to hear you.

The water is barely deep enough to use an towed array, so there is no layer. It might have been just sheer luck, but this happens every time, and I didn't see his signal grow stronger.

Also remember the 688I has better sonar equipment than you and can hear you farther away under most conditions, especially when you go +5 knots.

I know that, which is why I tried using my TAIL against that butthole's BOW, in a kind of reverse baffles strategy. I was dead ahead of that guy, so I'm shielded from his TA. His bow is only 2 points more sensitive than mine, and shouldn't be as sensitive as my towed array, which I actually realigned to -10, or TB-23 equivalent, no?

[MaHuJa]

I've heard repeatedly that the real akula becomes rather loud when increasing speed to more than 5 knots.

Then again, I don't think that is quite the problem in and of itself, considering that DW only supports linear speed noise.

[LuftWolf]

The Russian boats have a sharper Sound vs. Speed curve than the Western boats. So although the Akula II is quieter than a 688i at 4kts, and equal to the 688i between 5-8kts, it is louder than the 688i at 9kts and above.