New torpedoes to counter Russian and Chinese warships of the US Navy

The US Navy has begun production of the latest variant of the Mk-48 heavyweight torpedo to gain superiority at sea against modern enemy warships.

US Navy Mk-48 torpedo. Photo: Military

The US Navy and Lockheed Martin are upgrading the modern Mk-48 torpedo.upgraded to Mod 7 to help their warships deal more effectively with Russian and Chinese submarines and surface ships, according to National Interest.

"The corporation has invested $10 million to develop new control and guidance technologies for the Mk-48 torpedo,"It helps the Navy effectively deal with threats on the surface and deep under the ocean," said Tom Jarbeau, director of the Mk-48 program at Lockheed.

The Mk-48 torpedo was commissioned into the US Navy in 1971, has undergone many upgrades and has always been the main anti-ship and anti-submarine weapon of the US submarine fleet.

The Mk-48 is 5.8 m long, 53 cm in diameter, weighs 1,676 kg, and is equipped with a 292.5 kg high-explosive warhead with an effective range of over 8 km. This torpedo uses an Otto Fuel II engine, is equipped with a CBASS guidance system, and can operate at a maximum depth of over 365 m at a speed of 10.2 m/s.

The Mk-48 is equipped with active and passive guidance systems, capable of sinking fast and highly maneuverable warships and nuclear-powered submarines in deep waters.

The Mod 7 improved version of the Mk-48 torpedo is equipped with a wider bandwidth sonar system, allowing it to receive signals at a wider frequency range and process them to improve the torpedo's search, target identification and accuracy.

Besides, the Mk-48 Mod 7 torpedo can also overcome enemy interception systems. An important feature of this upgraded version is that it allows for easy hardware and software upgrades.

Dave Majumdar, a defense analyst for the National Interest, said the Mod 7 upgrade package could also be used to upgrade other older naval weapons to the new standard. Lockheed Martin plans to deliver 20 Mod 7 CBASS versions to the US Navy each month, and the company hopes to sell 250 torpedoes to the US Navy over the next five years.

See also:The naval gun is as powerful as the cruise missiles on US warships.

According to VNE