“does the NAVY still use depth charges??..just wondering.”
Who’s navy?
The US Navy does not we use MK46, MK50 or MK54 torpedoes from surface ships P3, P8 and our helos looking at you the S3 you are missed. Surface ships with VLS can load the RUM-139 VL-ASROC th at yeets a MK46,50,54 up to 12 nm and drop it on top of a submerged target.
Our subs use the Mark 48 torp we got rid of the Mark 45 nuclear torps after the cold war ended. SUBROC too.
Now the Russians...
[Modern Russian Depth Charge Systems
RBU-6000 Smerch-2: A 12-barrel rocket launcher that fires RGB-60 depth charges. It is a staple of Russian ASW, capable of launching rockets to a range of 5,500 meters.
RPK-8 Zapad: An upgrade to the RBU-6000 system, which fires the 90R rocket. This rocket releases a guided 90SG depth charge that homes in on targets at depths up to 1,000 meters (3,300 ft).
S3V Zagon-E: An aerially deployed, parachute-retarded depth charge used by aircraft (Tu-142, Ka-27). It features a nose-mounted sonar for active homing, offering high effectiveness in shallow and deep waters.]
China too.
The USA does have the Quickstrike series of mines that are MK84,83,82 bomb a with fuse kits to make them , acoustic,magnetic,induction,pressure wave,and/or seismic detonated bottom mines. It would be super easy to set the pressure type to have a delay of X seconds they all have a delay so they can be dropped and then trigger on a set depth pressure vs a passive ship pressure wave. So we could have air dropped depth charge in days if not hours of dev time.
excellent....thanks