Raytheon Company,
EGLIN AIR FORCE BASE: Raytheon Company has entered the U.S. Navy's High Altitude Anti-Submarine Warfare Weapons Concept (HAAWC) competition, successfully demonstrating a new weapon system — the Fish Hawk — March 21 at the Eglin flight demonstration range in the Gulf of Mexico.
The Fish Hawk is a kit that attaches to Raytheon's MK54 lightweight torpedo and enables submarine-hunting aircraft like the P-8 Multi Mission Maritime Aircraft and P-3 Orion to precisely deploy torpedoes from high altitudes while standing off a safe distance from a target.
During the March demonstration, an aircraft flying at 15,000 feet jettisoned a Fish Hawk-equipped dummy torpedo. The Fish Hawk's wings rapidly deployed and the weapon system then glided more than 10 nautical miles, splashing down well within the small target area and achieving all primary test objectives.
“This flight test successfully demonstrated the ability of Fish Hawk to accurately place the MK54 torpedo on target after release from a high-altitude aircraft like the P-3 or P-8,” said Ken Pedersen, Raytheon vice president of Advanced Programs. “We look forward to leveraging our expertise as the world's leader in precision guided munitions and presenting the customer with a cost-effective design that meets or exceeds all HAAWC requirements.”
The kit is composed of wings that deploy after the system is released from an aircraft, a control section and a Global Positioning System-Inertial Navigation System precision guidance system. The kit is designed to enable both the P-3 and P-8 to maximize loadout by deploying the system from the aircraft bomb bay.
Fish Hawk offers new capabilities that will enable aircraft to launch from higher altitudes and thus enhance survivability. The system also provides longer time on station thanks to reduced fuel consumption. Additionally, Fish Hawk reduces airframe stress because the aircraft is no longer required to dive down to the target in order to deploy an anti-submarine torpedo.
Raytheon Company, with 2007 sales of $21.3 billion, is a technology leader specializing in defense, homeland security and other government markets throughout the world. With headquarters in Waltham, Mass., Raytheon employs 72,000 people worldwide.
Background Information
Co-developed by Raytheon and the U.S. Navy, the MK54 is a next-generation anti-submarine warfare weapon that is deployed from a surface ship, helicopter or fixed wing aircraft to track, classify, and attack underwater targets.
Sophisticated processing algorithms allow the MK54 to analyze the information, edit out false targets and countermeasures, and pursue identified threats.
The MK54 is designed for both deep water and littoral environments, making it the only lightweight torpedo capable of striking any target in the world's oceans, regardless of water depth.
