The Mark 46 torpedo is the backbone of the United States Navy's lightweight anti-submarine warfaretorpedo inventory and is the NATO standard. These aerial torpedoes are designed to attack high-performance submarines. In 1989, an improvement program for the Mod 5 to the Mod 5A and Mod 5A(S) increased its shallow-water performance. The Mark 46 was initially developed as Research Torpedo Concept I (RETORC I), one of several weapons recommended for implementation by Project Nobska, a 1956 summer study on submarine warfare.[3]
Design details
Mark 46, Mod 5
Primary Function: Air and ship-launched lightweight torpedo[4]
Guidance System: Homing mode: Active or passive/active acoustic homing[5]
Launch/search mode: Snake or circle search
Warhead: 96.8 lb (43.9 kg)[4] of PBXN-103 high explosive (bulk charge)
Date Deployed: 1967 (Mod 0);[4] 1979 (Mod 5)
Yu-7 variant
The Chinese Yu-7 torpedo is said to be based on the Mk 46 Mod 2. The Chinese Navy used the Yu-7 ASW torpedo, deployed primarily on ships and ASW helicopters,[6] but it started to be replaced by the Yu-11 in 2012.[7]