Silent Anvil Air-Launched Torpedo

[Forest Green]

https://twitter.com/x/status/2092336508657177020

View: https://x.com/defense_news/status/2092336508657177020?s=20

US Navy’s new anti-submarine torpedo will be a glide weapon​

https://www.defensenews.com/industr...nti-submarine-torpedo-will-be-a-glide-weapon/

The concept seems similar to the Navy’s existing High Altitude Anti-Submarine Warfare Weapon Capability system, which added a glide kit to regular Mark 54 torpedoes that can be launched from P-8 Poseidon patrol planes flying as high as 30,000 feet. Or, the Air Force’s highly successful Joint Attack Direct Munition, which added fins and GPS to turn iron bombs into cheap guided munitions.

The Navy seeks a weapon that can be carried internally or externally, and is compatible with a standard BRU-61/A bomb rack. The torpedo should have “compact, lightweight form factor similar to the GBU-39 Small Diameter Bomb (SDB) to maximize aircraft carriage options across multiple manned and unmanned platforms.”

This means a weight of no more than 268 pounds, a length of no more than 70 inches and a diameter of up to 7.5 inches. The RFI does not specify the range of Silent Anvil (the Mark 54 has a range of about 5.7 miles).

“The Government is seeking industry input on the maximum standoff glide range achievable,” the Navy said.

The RFI included launch speed and altitude bands: Mach 0.25, 0.50, and 0.85, at altitudes from 10 feet up to 60,000 feet. This is far higher than the P-8’s maximum altitude, and closer to the ceiling of an MQ-4C Triton high-altitude drone.

 

[TomS]

That's about the same volume as CRAW, but you'd have to repackage things, since CRAW is skinnier but too long.

 

[Ozair]

Love the dimensions and weight on this. An ASW platform with these weapons should be able to make avoiding a weapon significantly more difficult, especially if the launching platform can deploy multiple to bracket a submarine.

Thoughts on the potential warhead size this could fit compared to what might be needed?