[PSUBS-MAILIST] replica's and torpedo's

Hi, I been watching the discussion on the 'biber/seahund'...external batteries in torpedos seemed to me the obvious way to go in any sub design, they're only there for propulsion purposes really, I've been working on a sub design which incorporates 'torps' as propulsion units, using an optical digital decoder instead of a traditional through port (we all wanna get ride of those huh!) the external pods not only run the propulsion system but also exteranl videos and equipment, data is feed back into the sub through the optical link, the other purpose is that via the optical link the entire battery pods (torps) can be jettisioned. I figured this was the best way to dumb a decent amount of ballast in an emergency.

Of course internally there is a second set of batteries, these run the onboard electronics/equipment, the only through port that should be neccessary in my design at the moment is the emergency backup for releasing the torpedos (or sub assembly carrying video's, batteries ballast air etc.) this would provide a more convention, hydralic or electrical link to the outer components.

Im looking for faults or other aspects of this concept, at the moment the decoder is pretty basic, and Im now concentrating on interfacing it with a basic laptop computer, BAUD/Data bandwidth is my major enemy at the moment, though Im considering a seperate decoder for the video link. any suggestions/opinions would be welcomed