Boeing Showcases New Sub-Hunting Torpedo

[Zarvan]

Lara Seligman/Staff

Boeing's HAAWC torpedo wsa on display at the Navy League's Sea-Air-Space exposition May 18, 2016.

WASHINGTON — Boeing showed off its newest sub-killing torpedo this week at the annual Sea-Air-Space conference, a flying torpedo that will enable the Navy’s P-8 Poseidon to hunt enemy submarines from great heights.


The HAAWC, which stands for High Altitude Anti-Submarine Warfare Weapon Capability, is an add-on kit for the Navy’s Mark 54 lightweight torpedo that gives the weapon the ability to glide through the air high above the clouds. Boeing is aiming to have the technology on the Navy’s submarine-hunting P-8 in 2017, according to company representatives.

The HAAWC kit turns the torpedo into a miniature jet, complete with wings, a tail and a GPS-guided navigation system. Once it nears the water, the kit peels off and the system activates a parachute that lowers the weapon to the water. The engine then starts and the torpedo begins its run toward its target.

The major advantage the HAAWC brings is enabling the P-8 to track and kill enemy submarines from high altitudes — as high as 30,000 feet, according to some reports — and for long distances, according to Boeing's Jeffrey Jones. This capability is in high demand as China, Russia and North Korea advance their nuclear submarine programs.

http://www.defensenews.com/story/de...g-showcases-new-sub-hunting-missile/84562780/

 

[Penguin]

Its an add-on kit for the Navy’s existing Mark 54 lightweight torpedo (not a new torpedo)

 

[Arsalan]

Not essentially a NEW Torpedo but a new system for sure.
Consider it a JDAM for torpedoes

 

[Joe Shearer]

Not essentially a NEW Torpedo but a new system for sure.
Consider it a JDAM for torpedoes

Something like a sabot? But guided?

 

[Arsalan]

Something like a sabot? But guided?

more like a high altitude guided torpedo. The add on kit enables it to glide through the air after being released at high altitude, it will reach the target area, the kit will go after before splash down and once in water it will move towards its target just like any other torpedo. The main advantage it will offer is the high altitude release and longer range traveling/gliding in air. With no real impressive air defense capabilities on board the submarines (nothing like what we get on ships) i am not sure how much of a game changer this can be with its high altitude and stand off capability. Sub, as of now, do not possess significant threat to ASW planes.

 

[Penguin]

High-Altitude Anti-Submarine Warfare Weapon Capability (HAAWC)

HAAWC will permit the Poseidon to launch torpedoes from altitudes as high as 30,000ft and attack submarines at long ranges. The system will leverage combat-proven technologies from Boeing’s Joint Direct Attack Munition (JDAM) and Small Diameter Bomb (SDB) so it can be launched from high altitudes and far from targets.
Added to the Mk54 torpedo as a kit, HAASWC converts the torpedo into a glide weapon. As the torpedo reaches the water, it jettisons the wings and control surfaces and becomes a smart weapon that detects, tracks, and kills enemy submarines autonomously.
The benefit of HAASWC is clear — releasing from higher altitudes not only keeps the Poseidon out of potential enemy air defense zones, it permits the aircraft to continue at optimum search altitudes and saves time and fuel associated with dropping to low altitude to attack targets, and then climbing back to patrol altitudes.
Before the HAAWC add-on kit, aircrews had to release an ASW torpedo from no higher than 100 ft (about 30-35m). Not only does the kit add range to the weapon (gliding distance from altitude), by eliminating the need to drop down to these altitudes for attack and then climb up to patrol altitude it also saves fuel for the maritime patrol aircraft.

A procedure no longer needed:

Actual Mk54

 

[Oldman1]

more like a high altitude guided torpedo. The add on kit enables it to glide through the air after being released at high altitude, it will reach the target area, the kit will go after before splash down and once in water it will move towards its target just like any other torpedo. The main advantage it will offer is the high altitude release and longer range traveling/gliding in air. With no real impressive air defense capabilities on board the submarines (nothing like what we get on ships) i am not sure how much of a game changer this can be with its high altitude and stand off capability. Sub, as of now, do not possess significant threat to ASW planes.

Indeed as of now, but there are possible plans for such system on submarines in the future. Hence why they are implementing this. Don't want to lose a P-8 aircraft to that. Submarines still rely on stealth to survive, but you know this could be last desperate measure when cornered.

 

[Penguin]

IDAS (Interactive Defence and Attack System for Submarines) is a short-range missile (based on the IRIS-T air-to-air missile) currently being developed for the new Type 212 submarine class of the German Navy. To be fired from Type 212's torpedo tubes. Four missiles will fit in one torpedo tube, stored in a magazine. IDAS will be fibre-optic guided and officially has a range of approx. 20 km.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/IDAS_(missile)

https://www.thyssenkrupp-marinesystems.com/en/missile-system-idas.html

Brochure http://www.diehl.com/fileadmin/diehl-defence/user_upload/flyer/IDAS_07_2008.pdf

And for closer in, there is the Muraena mast-mounted gun system for submarines, featuring the Rheinmetall (Mauser) RMK-30 recoilless 30mm cannon. (Rückstoßfreie Maschinenkanone 30 = recoilless autocannon)
http://defense-update.com/20070327_muraena.html

Triple-M (Modular Multipurpose Mast)

Based on the performance of MLF-27 (with BK-27 cannon), which has and effective range of 2.5km and a max. range of 4km, and the MK30-2, which has an effective range of 3km, this systems should be able to handle targets out/up to 2.5-3km.

RMK-30 on Waffenträger Wiesel 1 (Bw)

 

[RAMPAGE]

High-Altitude Anti-Submarine Warfare Weapon Capability (HAAWC)

HAAWC will permit the Poseidon to launch torpedoes from altitudes as high as 30,000ft and attack submarines at long ranges. The system will leverage combat-proven technologies from Boeing’s Joint Direct Attack Munition (JDAM) and Small Diameter Bomb (SDB) so it can be launched from high altitudes and far from targets.
Added to the Mk54 torpedo as a kit, HAASWC converts the torpedo into a glide weapon. As the torpedo reaches the water, it jettisons the wings and control surfaces and becomes a smart weapon that detects, tracks, and kills enemy submarines autonomously.
The benefit of HAASWC is clear — releasing from higher altitudes not only keeps the Poseidon out of potential enemy air defense zones, it permits the aircraft to continue at optimum search altitudes and saves time and fuel associated with dropping to low altitude to attack targets, and then climbing back to patrol altitudes.
Before the HAAWC add-on kit, aircrews had to release an ASW torpedo from no higher than 100 ft (about 30-35m). Not only does the kit add range to the weapon (gliding distance from altitude), by eliminating the need to drop down to these altitudes for attack and then climb up to patrol altitude it also saves fuel for the maritime patrol aircraft.

A procedure no longer needed:

Actual Mk54

How about arming MQ-4C with this thing?

 

[Penguin]

How about arming MQ-4C with this thing?

Its surveillance sensor is the AN/ZPY-3 Multi-Function Active Sensor (MFAS) X-band AESA radar with a 360-degree field-of-regard, capable of surveying 2,700,000 sq mi (7,000,000 km2) of sea (as well as shoreline or land), or 2,000 sq mi (5,200 km2) in a single sweep.It has a Raytheon MTS-B multi-spectral EO/IR sensor equipped with additional laser designator, pointer, and range finding abilities capable of automatically tracking what the MFAS detects. The Triton is equipped with a modular electronic support measures (ESM) suite, similar to the one used on the Lockheed EP-3, to passively pick up and classify even faint radar signals.

All great, but none particularly suited for submarine detection and tracking. So, giving it an ASW torpedo would be kind of pointless.

 

[RAMPAGE]

Its surveillance sensor is the AN/ZPY-3 Multi-Function Active Sensor (MFAS) X-band AESA radar with a 360-degree field-of-regard, capable of surveying 2,700,000 sq mi (7,000,000 km2) of sea (as well as shoreline or land), or 2,000 sq mi (5,200 km2) in a single sweep.It has a Raytheon MTS-B multi-spectral EO/IR sensor equipped with additional laser designator, pointer, and range finding abilities capable of automatically tracking what the MFAS detects. The Triton is equipped with a modular electronic support measures (ESM) suite, similar to the one used on the Lockheed EP-3, to passively pick up and classify even faint radar signals.

All great, but none particularly suited for submarine detection and tracking. So, giving it an ASW torpedo would be kind of pointless.

I thought they were going to put a MAD on it? How else would it replace the P-3s?

 

[Penguin]

I thought they were going to put a MAD on it? How else would it replace the P-3s?

A magnetic anomaly detector (MAD) is an instrument used to detect minute variations in the Earth's magnetic field. The term refers specifically to magnetometers used by military forces to detect submarines (a mass of ferromagnetic material creates a detectable disturbance in the magnetic field). MAD devices are usually mounted on aircraft.
To reduce interference from electrical equipment or metal in the fuselage of the aircraft, the MAD sensor is normally placed at the end of a boom or a towed aerodynamic device. Even so, the submarine must be very near the aircraft's position and close to the sea surface for detection of the change or anomaly, according to the Inverse Square Law (or Law of Inverse Squares). The size of the submarine and its hull composition determine the detection range.

One thing the Triton was designed to do that the Global Hawk cannot is rapidly descend to lower altitudes, built with a more robust lower fuselage better able to withstand hail, bird, and lightning strikes with anti-icing systems on its wings. When at low altitude and if equipped with a MAD device, it could possibly detect a submarine this way. However, given that it would have already come down to near sea surface in order to be able to detect anything underwater, there would be no need for the HAAWC to attack it: a normal low level parachuted launch of an ASW torpedo would suffice. HAAWC would only be useful on a MQ-4C if it receives submarine target information from elsewhere. But not a necessity because of this drones' ability to go down low quickly.

P-8A
The P-8 is to replace the P-3 Orion.At first, it will be equipped with legacy P-3 systems, but later upgrades will incorporate more advanced technology. In 2008, the Naval Air Systems Command (NAVAIR) deleted the requirement for the P-8A to be equipped with magnetic anomaly detection (MAD) equipment as part of an effort that reduced weight by 3,500 lb (1,600 kg) to improve endurance and range. A hydrocarbon sensor detects fuel vapors from diesel-powered submarines and ships
The P-8 features the Raytheon APY-10 multi-mission surface search radar; the P-8I features an international version of the APY-10. Unlike the preceding P-3, the P-8 lacks a magnetic anomaly detector (MAD) due to its higher operational altitude; its acoustic sensor system is reportedly more effective at acoustic tracking and thus lacking a MAD won't impede its detection capabilities; India's P-8I is equipped with a MAD per the contract request. Various sensor data are combined via data fusion software to track targets. During the P-8A Increment 2 upgrade in 2016, the APS-149 Littoral Surveillance Radar System (LSRS) will be replaced by the Advanced Airborne Sensor radar. In January 2015, BAE Systems was awarded a contract for the Navy's High Altitude ASW (HAASW) Unmanned Targeting Air System (UTAS) program to develop a sub-hunting UAV equipped with a MAD for launching from the P-8.
http://www.navysbir.com/12_1/148.htm
http://www.popularmechanics.com/mil...anes-will-launch-swarms-of-expendable-drones/

http://www.militaryaerospace.com/articles/2015/01/bae-subhunting-drone.html
(this article incidentally suggests the Northrop Grumman RQ-4N Triton Broad Area Maritime Surveillance (BAMS) can detect and track hostile submarines from high or low altitudes, but - apparently - not attack it)