The RUM-139 Vertical-Launch Anti-Submarine Rocket (VL-ASROC or VLA) is an

anti-submarine missile An anti-submarine missile is a standoff missile, standoff anti-submarine weapon, often a specialized variant of anti-ship missile. Anti-submarine missiles usually include a jet engine, jet or rocket engine, rocket engine and a warhead aimed di ...

in the

ASROC The RUR-5 ASROC (for "Anti-Submarine Rocket") is an all-weather, all sea-conditions anti-submarine missile system. Developed by the United States Navy in the 1950s, it was deployed in the 1960s, updated in the 1990s, and eventually installed ...

family, currently built by

Lockheed Martin The Lockheed Martin Corporation is an American Arms industry, defense and aerospace manufacturer with worldwide interests. It was formed by the merger of Lockheed Corporation with Martin Marietta on March 15, 1995. It is headquartered in North ...

for the

U.S. Navy The United States Navy (USN) is the maritime service branch of the United States Department of Defense. It is the world's most powerful navy with the largest displacement, at 4.5 million tons in 2021. It has the world's largest aircraft ...

History

Design and development of the missile began in 1983 when

Goodyear Aerospace Goodyear Aerospace Corporation (GAC) was the aerospace and defense subsidiary of the Goodyear Tire and Rubber Company. The company was originally operated as a division within Goodyear as the Goodyear Zeppelin Corporation, part of a joint project ...

was contracted by the U.S. Navy to develop a ship-launched anti-submarine missile compatible with the new Mark 41 vertical launching system (VLS). The development of the VLS ASROC underwent many delays, and it was not deployed on any ships until 1993. During this development, Goodyear Aerospace was bought by

Loral Corporation Loral Corporation was a defense contractor founded in 1948 in New York by William Lorenz and Leon Alpert as Loral Electronics Corporation. The company's name was taken from the first syllables of each founder's surname. History Loral Corporation ...

in 1986, and this defense division was in turn purchased by Lockheed Martin in 1995. The first VLS ASROC missile was an

RUR-5 ASROC The RUR-5 ASROC (for "Anti-Submarine Rocket") is an all-weather, all sea-conditions anti-submarine missile system. Developed by the United States Navy The United States Navy (USN) is the naval warfare, maritime military branch, ser ...

with an upgraded solid-fuel booster section and a digital guidance system. It carries a lightweight Mark 46

homing 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 ...

that is dropped from the rocket at a precalculated point on its

trajectory A trajectory or flight path is the path that an object with mass in motion follows through space as a function of time. In classical mechanics, a trajectory is defined by Hamiltonian mechanics via canonical coordinates; hence, a complete tra ...

, and then parachuted into the sea. The vertical launch missile first became operational in 1993, with more than 450 having been produced by 2007. It is in length, with a firing range of about 11.8 nm or .Thomas, Vincent C. ''The Almanac of Seapower 1987'' Navy League of the United States (1987) pp. 190–91 Beginning in 1996, the missile was replaced by the newer RUM-139A and subsequently the RUM-139B. The

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 ...

remained the Mark 46, though at one time an improved torpedo called the Mark 50 was proposed and then canceled. In October 2004, the RUM-139C began production with the Mark 54 torpedo. The Mk 54 Mod 0 torpedo achieved

Initial Operating Capability Initial operating capability or initial operational capability (IOC) is the state achieved when a capability is available in its minimum usefully deployable form. The term is often used in government or military procurement. The United States D ...

in 2010, and the U.S. Navy is transitioning its VL-ASROCs to use the Mk 54.

References

{{Use dmy dates, date=June 2017 Anti-submarine missiles of the United States Anti-submarine weapons Military equipment introduced in the 1990s

History

See also

References