Posted on 02/05/2010 5:50:03 PM PST by ErnstStavroBlofeld
A wing kit that adds satellite guidance to torpedoes dropped from aircraft is among the latest technologies that Tucson-based Raytheon Missile Systems is marketing to international customers.
Raytheon's Fish Hawk wing kit - which the company is showing off this week at the Singapore Airshow - is designed to fit on Raytheon's MK-54 lightweight torpedo, which is dropped from anti-submarine warfare aircraft.
The kit guides the torpedo to a target area with a GPS satellite and inertial navigation system and targeting information from an aircraft controller.
Once the system descends to a specific location at lower altitude and speed, the wing kit releases the torpedo, and a small parachute deploys to slow down the torpedo for water entry, according to Raytheon.
After it enters the water, onboard inertial systems and sonar guide the torpedo to the submarine target.
Fish Hawk is being developed by Raytheon for the U.S. Navy's High Altitude Anti-Submarine Warfare Weapons Concept, a program aimed at developing better systems to counter submarines from the skies.
The Fish Hawk was built from the ground up for the Navy's next-generation patrol and anti-sub plane, Boeing's P-8 Poseidon, Mark Borup, Raytheon's Fish Hawk business development manager, said in prepared remarks.
"Unlike other legacy torpedo wing kits that have been redesigned to fit in the P-8, Fish Hawk is purpose-built for the Poseidon, using combat-proven technology," Borup said, citing a successful flight test of the guidance system in 2008.
The Fish Hawk would give the U.S. allies in the Asia-Pacific region the capability to deploy torpedoes safely from extended ranges, added Borup, who was in Singapore Wednesday.
Lockheed Martin Corp. is developing its own high-altitude torpedo guidance kit, known as the LongShot, to meet the Navy's requirements.
(Excerpt) Read more at azstarnet.com ...
coming soon to a cellphone near you?
Fish Hawk, lol that’s cool.
Great idea..! This is because of recent advances by submarine defenses against aircraft (stinger-like missiles inside of torpedo-sized buoy-kits, ejected by submarines against a/c.
More and more, I think we are going to need some type of GPS backup, I really do.
I think its awesome!
If no one has said it, welcome to FreeRepublic!
A really intelligent young man who attends our church just graduated with a Phd and extraordinary grades all the way through his three degrees, and went to work for Raytheon in Tucson.
Raytheon was very excited to get him, and he is excited to go to work for them.
Raytheon was very excited to get him, and he is excited to go to work for them.
Part of the excitement was that they found a PhD graduate from a US university who was a US citizen and could get security clearance...:^)
A harder task than it might first appear - but sounds like a good match in this case.
Kewl.
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