Adding range and smart guidance to existing munitions, via a kit, is the backbone of America’s “smart weapon” revolution. Laser guided bombs, GPS guided JDAMs , and Wind Corrected Munitions Dispensers are all bolt-on kits that drastically increase the capability of existing air-dropped weapons.

The HAAWC concept is relatively straightforward. The folding-wing kit contains a flight control computer and GPS, and attaches via a set of collars to a Mark 54 torpedo. Once launched, HAAWC's wings spring out and it heads for its target many miles away. When it arrives at its assigned target area, the wing kit jettisons the torpedo, with a parachute gently lowering it into the water. Once in the water, the Mark 54 torpedo then activates to autonomously hunt for and kill a submarine—just as it would if it were dropped close to the target directly by a launch aircraft or ship.

Without the HAAWC kit, a Mark 54 Torpedo has to be dropped from an aircraft at low altitude, usually no higher than 100 feet. As such, the concept represents a massive increase in flexibility when it comes to engagement tactics and capabilities for aerial anti-submarine warfare platforms, and especially for the Navy’s all-star export success and flying Swiss Army knife, the P-8 Poseidon.

It's likely that HAAWC will also be outfitted with a data-link, so that mid-course targeting updates and even retargeting can be provided while the weapon makes its way to the target area. During a dynamic engagement, where multiple platforms are detecting multiple sub-surface contacts in the same region as a HAAWC-armed P-8, it will be highly beneficial to be able to direct these weapons after letting them loose. Not only will updated targeting coordinates increase their probability of killing a submarine, but it will allow weapon system officers aboard the P-8 to make the best out of a limited number of available weapons by targeting the highest-priority targets first—even if the priority list changes after the weapon's release.

HAAWC, and the standoff attack range that it provides, also allows the P-8 and other ASW aircraft to go after subsurface targets without exposing themselves to potential anti-air defenses that may overlap with the position of the submarine, or submarine operating area, being targeted.