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Saab's has developed a new lightweight torpedo (NLT).
missile as Harpoon or Exocet in terms of capability, but we outrange them quite a bit.” The company expects to use the Thai contract to push further into the region and market the RBS15 Mk3 capabilities. MBDA’s Exocet was made famous in Argentine service by sinking UK Royal Navy vessels during the Falklands War in 1982. Operators in the Asia-Pacific include Pakistan on its Agosta-class submarines, Vietnam on its SIGMA-class corvettes, India’s Kalvari-class submarines, Indonesia’s Fathillah-class ships and Malaysia’s Scorpene submarines and SIGMA-class ships. A spokesperson from MBDA said that to address the Asia-Pacific market it has “developed the 200km-range MM40 Exocet Block 3 and the 100km-range Marte ER missiles”, both of which include active radar seekers and the advanced navigation and guidance packages. “For very complex littoral waters, against smaller threats, including multiple fast attack craft and corvettes, it is vital that positive target identification is conducted, and accordingly only missiles equipped with advanced electro-optical seekers and datalinks can be used safely in such conditions,” the spokesperson added. MBDA also produces the Otomat ASM, which is used by the Bangladesh and Malaysian navies. The company is developing this system further too: “The Italian MoD has approved and allocated funding for the development of an
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evolved version of in-service MBDA Italia's Otomat Mk 2 Block IV/Teseo Mk 2/A long-range anti-ship missile. The new version will feature increased range, precision, lethality and survivability with a new mission control system.”
Torpedoes New torpedo models and upgrades to older weapons are being developed to improve anti-ship and anti-submarine capabilities that meet requirements to operate in shallower waters and littoral regions. This is important for south east Asia, where the average depth of the East China Sea is less than 200m. Japan is developing the G-RXG heavyweight torpedo (HWT) with a new sensor, guidance section and warhead that will give it the ability to engage in shallow or deep water against a wider range of targets and with Torpedo Counter Counter-Measure (TCCM) capability to penetrate decoy or jamming systems. The torpedo will be fitted to the 29SS Soryuclass submarine that is expected to enter service in FY2021. G-RX6 will eventually replace the existing Type 89 G-RX2 also built by Mitsubishi Heavy Industry that entered service in 1989. In India, the navy cancelled the acquisition of the Blackshark torpedo for its six Scorpene-class submarines from WASS, a subsidiary of Italian company Leonardo. An RFI followed in 2017 requesting 150 torpedoes for
| Asian Military Review |
$30 million and the competition is heating up. An SUT torpedo from Atlas Elektronik was already tested on INS Kalvari last year meaning the company’s DM2A3/4 torpedo has a chance. But French shipbuilder Naval Group wants to provide its new F21 HWT to meet the requirement alongside other competitive international offerings, alternatively the Indian Navy could also select its homemade Varanastra torpedo developed by the DRDO. Meanwhile Australia and the US use the Mk48 CBASS torpedo. The production line has been re-started to build new torpedoes but an RFP was released in June that will initiate a programme to upgrade the torpedo, which is now lagging behind its rivals that are being modernized. China uses the YU-6 largely reverse engineered from US and ex-Soviet torpedoes using Otto II fuel and an Intel processor for guidance but is probably below the capability of the Mk48 and the YU-9 in-service since 2012 is similar but uses battery power. At MADEX 2017 in South Korea, LigNex1 displayed its new Tiger Shark HWT that will replace the RoKN’s existing White Shark weapon. It is based on the company’s Blue Shark Lightweight Torpedo (LWT) that has secured its first sale to the Philippines. UK-based LWT torpedo launcher manufacturer SEA, told AMR the market is growing in this sector. SEA has secured LWT launcher contracts in the region for two new Philippines frigates, Malaysia’s six LCS and a new Thai ship. Paul Parsons, international business development director at the company, told AMR that navies have quite wide inventories of different LWTs depending on the class of ship. “It is a growing area. We are seeing a whole resurgence of ASW. In the region navies didn’t have a capability or are building it to carry out ASW. Navies seem content with NATO-standard torpedoes given the pedigree and number of players offering choice,” he said. NATO standard means those with a diameter of about 324mm, LWTs in the region include the Mk54 used by India, Australia and the US on the P-8 Poseidon maritime patrol aircraft. Australia also uses the MU90 on its ASW helicopters and the A244/S is popular with Malaysia, Singapore, Indonesia and India as operators. Outside of the NATO standard there is the Russian APR-3E, Saab’s New Lightweight Torpedo (NLT) and China’s YU-7. AMR