The Mark 46 torpedo is the backbone of the

United States Navy The United States Navy (USN) is the naval warfare, maritime military branch, service branch of the United States Department of Defense. It is the world's most powerful navy with the largest Displacement (ship), displacement, at 4.5 millio ...

's lightweight

anti-submarine warfare Anti-submarine warfare (ASW, or in the older form A/S) is a branch of underwater warfare that uses surface warships, aircraft, submarines, or other platforms, to find, track, and deter, damage, or destroy enemy submarines. Such operations ar ...

torpedo A modern torpedo is an underwater ranged weapon launched above or below the water surface, self-propelled towards a target, with an explosive warhead designed to detonate either on contact with or in proximity to the target. Historically, such ...

inventory and is the

NATO The North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO ; , OTAN), also called the North Atlantic Alliance, is an intergovernmental organization, intergovernmental Transnationalism, transnational military alliance of 32 Member states of NATO, member s ...

standard. These aerial torpedoes are designed to attack high-performance submarines. In 1989, an improvement program for the Mod 5 to the Mod 5A and Mod 5A(S) increased its shallow-water performance. The Mark 46 was initially developed as Research Torpedo Concept I (RETORC I), one of several weapons recommended for implementation by Project Nobska, a 1956 summer study on

submarine warfare Submarine warfare is one of the four divisions of underwater warfare, the others being anti-submarine warfare, Naval mine, mine warfare and Naval mine, mine countermeasures. Submarine warfare consists primarily of Diesel engine, diesel and nu ...

. File:Mark-46-prop.jpg, A Mark 46 Mod 5A torpedo is inspected aboard the guided missile destroyer USS ''Mustin''. File:Lynx mk46.jpg, A French '' Lynx'' helicopter carrying a Mk 46 torpedo. File:P-8A Poseidon of VP-16 dropping torpedo in 2013.JPG, A P-8A Poseidon of VP-16 dropping a Mark 46 torpedo

Design details

Variants

* Mod 0: One of the original versions of 1960 (production started 1963). Solid propellent piston engine. Gyro/wire guidance with passive/active homing. * Mod 1: Based on Mod 0. 1967. Uses liquid Otto fuel piston engine. Laminar search guidance. Phase 1 of 1968 uses stronger hull to resist deeper waters. Phase 2 of 1971 uses a new homing program able to detect submarines near the surface. * Mod 2: Based on Mod 1 phase 2. More powerful Mk 103 Mod 1 warhead. Improved computer with snake search pattern capability. Known to have been captured by China in 1978. * Mod 4: Version for use as Mark 60 CAPTOR mine payload. * Mod 5: 1979 upgrade kit for Mod 2, also known as NEARTIP (near-term improvement program). New passive/active sonar, liquid fuel and two speed engine for low speed search and high speed attack. ** Mod 5A: Cheaper NEARTIP upgrade kit for Mod 1 and Mod 2 with improved shallow-water performance. 1980s. ** Mod 5A(S): Variant of 5A that allows use in water as shallow as 40 m. ** Mod 5A(SW): Latest variant from 1996 Service Life Extension Program. Boasts improved counter-countermeasure performance, enhanced target acquisition, provides a bottom-avoidance preset, and improved maintainability and reliability. * Mod 6: Version for Mark 60 CAPTOR, with some NEARTIP components. * Mod 7: Cancelled. Not funded by Congress. For most variants there is also an inert REXTORP (recoverable exercise torpedo) version.

Specifications

; Mark 46, Mod 5 * Primary Function: Air and ship-launched lightweight torpedoThomas, Vincent C. ''The Almanac of Seapower 1987'' Navy League of the United States (1987) pp.190-191 * Contractor:

Alliant Techsystems Alliant Techsystems Inc. (ATK) was an American Aerospace manufacturer, aerospace and arms industry, arms manufacturer headquartered in Arlington County, Virginia. The company operated across 22 states, Puerto Rico, and internationally. ATK reven ...

* Power Plant: Two-speed, reciprocating external combustion; Mono-propellant ( Otto fuel II) * Length: tube launch configuration (from ship),Polmar, Norman "The Ships and Aircraft of the U.S. Fleet: Torpedoes" ''United States Naval Institute Proceedings'' November 1978 p.160 with ASROC rocket booster * Weight: (warshot configuration) * Diameter: * Range: * Depth: > * Speed: > * Guidance System: Homing mode: Active or passive/active acoustic homing * Launch/search mode: Snake or circle search * Warhead: of PBXN-103 high explosive (bulk charge) * Date Deployed: 1967 (Mod 0); 1979 (Mod 5)

Yu-7 variant

The Chinese Yu-7 torpedo is said to be based on the Mk 46 Mod 2. The Chinese Navy used the Yu-7 ASW torpedo, deployed primarily on ships and ASW helicopters,(Chinese language)
but it started to be replaced by the Yu-11 in 2012.

Operators

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

References

External links

DiGiulian, Tony, Navweaps.com: USA Torpedoes

{{DEFAULTSORT:Mark 46 Torpedo Aerial torpedoes Cold War anti-submarine weapons of the United States Military equipment introduced in the 1960s Torpedoes of the United Kingdom Torpedoes of the United States