Mark 50 torpedo
| Mark 50 Advanced Lightweight Torpedo | |
|---|---|
Mark 50 torpedo being fired | |
| Type | Lightweight ASW torpedo |
| Place of origin | United States |
| Service history | |
| Used by | United States Navy |
| Production history | |
| Designer | Honeywell |
| Designed | 1974 |
| Manufacturer | Alliant Techsystems |
| Produced | 1991– |
| No. built | 1000 |
| Specifications | |
| Mass | approx. 800 lb (360 kg) |
| Length | 9.5 ft (2.9 m) |
| Width | 12.75 in (0.324 m) |
| Warhead | HE shaped charge |
| Warhead weight | 100 lb (45 kg) |
| Engine | Stored chemical energy propulsion system pump-jet |
| Propellant | sulfur hexafluoride, lithium |
Operational range | 16,000 yd (15 km) |
| Maximum depth | > 1,900 ft (580 m) |
| Maximum speed | > 40 kn (74 km/h) |
Guidance system | Active or passive/active Acoustic homing |
Launch platform | Mark 32 surface vessel torpedo tubes, ASW aircraft (P-3 Orion), RUM-139 VL-ASROC |
_MK-50_Torpedo_is_launched_from_guided_missile_destroyer_USS_Bulkeley_(DDG_84).jpg){kind=link}
The Mark 50 torpedo is a U.S. Navy advanced lightweight torpedo for use against fast, deep-diving submarines. The Mk 50 can be launched from all anti-submarine aircraft and from torpedo tubes aboard surface combatant ships. The Mk 50 was intended to replace the Mk 46 as the fleet's lightweight torpedo. Instead the Mark 46 will be replaced with the Mark 54 LHT.