ELI5: Explain Like I'm 5

Supercavitating torpedo

So, imagine you're playing in a pool and you have a toy torpedo that you want to shoot through the water to hit a target. But sometimes, the water slows down your torpedo and it doesn't go as fast as you want it to.

Now, pretend you have a special kind of torpedo called a supercavitating torpedo. This torpedo is designed to fly through the water really, really fast. How does it do that?

Well, the supercavitating torpedo has a special shape that lets it make its way through the water in a different way. It creates a special bubble around itself, which is called a cavity. The bubble is really big and it helps the torpedo glide through the water faster because there's less drag.

This idea of using a cavity to move through water or air is actually something that scientists and engineers have been working on for a long time. Even fish and some types of birds use cavities to make themselves move more efficiently through their natural environments.

Now, supercavitating torpedoes are really important for Navy submarines and other military purposes. They can move much faster than regular torpedoes, which means they can reach their targets faster and with greater precision. It also makes them harder to detect and defend against, which is important in wartime.

So, in short, a supercavitating torpedo is a special kind of torpedo that flies through the water really fast by creating a big bubble around itself. It's used by the military to hit targets quickly and more accurately.