| Mark 50 Advanced Lightweight Torpedo | |
|---|---|
Mark 50 torpedo being fired |
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| Type | Torpedo |
| Place of origin | United States |
| Service history | |
| Used by | United States Navy |
| Production history | |
| Designer | Honeywell[1] |
| Designed | 1974 |
| Manufacturer | Alliant Techsystems |
| Produced | 1991- |
| Number built | 1000[2] |
| Specifications | |
| Weight | 750 lb (340 kg) |
| Length | 112 in (2.84 m) |
| Width | 12.75 in (0.32 m) |
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| Warhead | HE shaped charge[1] |
| Warhead weight | 100 lb (45 kg)[1] |
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| Engine | Stored Chemical Energy Propulsion System |
| Operational range |
15 km Maximum [3] |
| Maximum depth | 1,900 ft (580 m)[4] |
| Speed | 40+ knots (74+ km/h)[1] |
| Guidance system |
Active/passive acoustic homing[1] |
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.[1] Instead the Mark 46 will be replaced with the Mark 54 LHT.
The torpedo's Stored Chemical Energy Propulsion System uses a small tank of sulfur hexafluoride gas which is sprayed over a block of solid lithium, which generates enormous quantities of heat, in turn used to generate steam from seawater. The steam propels the torpedo in a closed Rankine cycle, supplying power to a pump-jet.
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