December 23, 2024: The U.S. Navy is having problems deciding what types of weapons their Virginia class SSN attack submarines should carry. The most favored weapons are launched from torpedo tubes. It’s not just torpedoes. You can put a Harpoon anti-ship missile into a torpedo casing and launch that torpedo towards the surface target the sonar detected. When that torpedo reaches the surface it launches the Harpoon missile, which has a much longer range of 280 kilometers than any torpedo. The Mark 48 torpedo has a 70 kilometer range. One advantage torpedoes have over missiles is that the target cannot easily detect an approaching torpedo. Navies say they have all manner of torpedo detection systems, but sailors doubt that any of those detectors will work. The detectors have not performed well in tests, when you knew an unarmed test torpedo was headed your way. In actual combat there is little or no warning. In contrast an incoming missile is spotted by radar and these missiles have been shot down by the 20mm autocannon of the Phalanx system. Other nations have weapons similar to Phalanx.

The Navy has also developed accessories for its air-launched torpedoes, the lightweight Mk 54 which enables the torpedo to glide long distances before entering the water. The new accessory enables a maritime patrol aircraft to launch the torpedo from high altitude. The modified Mk 54 has pop-out wings, so the high-altitude torpedo can still be stored inside the aircraft bomb bay. When dropped, the wings pop out, an onboard computer uses GPS and tiny electric motors, to operate the wings and fins to guide the torpedo to a preprogrammed location, at which point the glide kit falls away as the torpedo enters the water and starts searching for the submarine. The glide kit can also be used with air dropped naval mines. It took contractor Lockheed Martin a year, and three million dollars, to develop the system.

Normally, aircraft or helicopters have to come down to a hundred meters altitude to launch torpedoes. That takes time and makes them vulnerable to anti-aircraft weapons. Some subs have systems that can release a small anti-aircraft missile while submerged, when they pick up the sound of a low flying aircraft or helicopter. By staying at a higher altitude, the sub won't know it is being tracked, and that makes it more vulnerable to the torpedo attack. Finally, the U.S. Navy’s new maritime patrol aircraft, the P-8, is a jet, and does not operate as effectively at low altitudes as the current prop driven P-3. Same with the jet propelled drones the navy is developing for maritime patrol work.