How a Swiss Sub "Sank" a US Carrier

Logosofia no Dia a Dia · May 30, 2026 · 32m

In 2005, a Swiss diesel-electric submarine slipped through a U.S. carrier group's anti-submarine screen and simulated sinking the USS Harry S. Truman — without firing a real torpedo. How did the Navy determine it was a kill? This episode unpacks the machinery of wargame adjudication: acoustic propagation models, Monte Carlo simulations, the Torpedo Effectiveness Model, and the human umpire team known as the White Cell. We explore how sensor degradation, bottom-creep tactics, and six-degree-of-freedom physics simulations turn make-believe weapons into decisions that reshape naval doctrine…