Northrop Grumman has been awarded a contract to manufacture a new advanced lightweight torpedo for the U.S. Navy, featuring a newly developed warhead intended to improve weapon effectiveness, according to the company.
The $233 million contract covers proof of manufacturing, qualification activities and the delivery of multiple torpedoes for qualification testing. Work will be carried out at Northrop Grumman’s facility in Plymouth, Minnesota, and at the Allegany Ballistics Laboratory in Rocket Center, West Virginia, the company stated. Northrop Grumman said it will be responsible for integration activities and initial manufacturing validation as part of the programme, which supports what it described as an urgent U.S. Navy requirement.
Dave Fine, vice president of armament systems at Northrop Grumman, said: “Northrop Grumman is leveraging over 80 years of innovative torpedo technology, combined with our capacity and speed in delivery, to accelerate the design qualification and manufacturing for the advanced lightweight torpedo.”
He added: “This new weapon will provide U.S. and allied sailors with a next-generation response to counter the most advanced undersea threats.”
The advanced lightweight torpedo forms part of the MK54 MOD 2 programme, which was developed under a cooperative agreement between the U.S. Navy and the Australian Defence Force. According to the company, the MOD 2 variant is intended to enhance the existing MK54 MOD 0 and MOD 1 inventory through the introduction of a new warhead and updated processing capabilities.
Northrop Grumman said the torpedo is designed to detect, classify and engage underwater targets across a range of maritime environments. The system is intended for launch from surface vessels, fixed-wing aircraft and helicopters, supporting anti-submarine warfare operations.
The last seen report on the Raytheon Mk 54 Mod 1 LWT was the DOT&E FY2023 Annual Report: Navy: Mk 54 Mod 1, a few quotes (The DOT&E budget has since been gutted last June by Trump’s US Défense Sec Hegseth)
“The Navy ended the Mod 1 Increment 1 IOT&E in October 2022 (2 live firings) without completing the DOT&E approved test plan. IOT&E was adequate to evaluate performance in a limited set of scenarios, but not in the acoustically challenging environment of shallow water for which improvements were expected to have the greatest effect on torpedo performance // The Mod 1 Increment 1 torpedo is not operationally suitable due to low availability and reliability. Mod 1 torpedoes are more likely to shut down early compared to Mod 0. A detailed assessment is in the classified IOT&E report for Mod 1 Increment 1 dated April 2023. ”
Understand the RAF bought the Mk 54 Mod 1 for the RAF Poseidon MRA1 but it now it would appear due to its poor performance USN will be replacing it with the Northrop Grumman MK 54 Mod 2, will the RAF be buying the MK 54 Mod 2 for Poseidon?