Indian Navy To Get More Raytheon-Made Light Weight Torpedo From U.S

The U.S. is readying to supply more of the Raytheon-built MK54 Mod 0 Lightweight Torpedo (LWTs) kits to India under the Foreign Military Sales (FMS) route. Though 68 of the LWTs are earmarked for supply under the FMS route, the exact number that will go to India was not disclosed.

India had first got the anti-submarine MK54s from the U.S. for its Boeing P8I long range reconnaissance planes in 2012 for $45 million. The plane also carries the Boeing Harpoon missiles.

The U.S. Department of Defense's latest announcement said it awarded Raytheon Integrated Defense Systems, based at Portsmouth in Rhode Island, a $29.75-million modification to a previously awarded contract, which includes the production of the MK54 Mod 0 Lightweight Torpedo kits and related engineering and repair services for the upgrade of the Navy LWTs.

"This modification also involves foriegn military sales to India, Turkey and Australia," a notification from the U.S. Department of Defense said on Aug.31, 2015. "This option exercise provides the Navy with a quantity of 100 MK54 Mod 0 LWT kits including warranty and a quantity of 68 foreign military sales MK54 Mod 0 LWT kits including warranty and spares."

Although the 230-kg MK54 Mod 0 LWT is primarily intended as an anti-submarine torpedo for littoral scenarios, its basic capabilities includes operation in both shallow and deep water acoustic environmental conditions, and exceeds MK46 anti-submarine warfare capabilities in deep-water scenarios. It can be launched from a surface warship, a submarine, an aircraft or an helicopter

Work will be performed in Keyport, Washington (80 percent); and Portsmouth, Rhode Island (20 percent), and is expected to be completed by September 2017. 

 armingindia