Raytheon has been contracted to supply anti-submarine warfare (ASW) weapon MK 54 lightweight torpedo common parts kits to the US Navy and Thailand.

Under the $37.72m deal, Raytheon will be responsible for the procurement of MK 54 Mod 0 lightweight torpedo kits and MK 54 exercise fuel tanks, spares, production support material, engineering support, and hardware repair support.

The firm-fixed-price, fixed-price-incentive, cost and cost-plus-fixed-fee contract includes options, which if exercised will sum up the total value of the contract to $448.73m.

"The MK 54 lightweight torpedo is designed to destroy submarines in both deep and shallow water."

Work under the contract will be performed in Keyport, Washington; Portsmouth, Rhode Island; and Tewksbury, Massachusetts, US. It is slated to be completed by 2019.

The MK 54 lightweight torpedo is designed to destroy submarines in both deep and shallow water, and in a range of acoustic environments. It serves as the key weapon for the US Navy’s MH-60R maritime helicopter’s ASW missions.

The weapon adds a critical capability to the US Navy’s long-range anti-submarine warfare (ASW), anti-surface warfare, intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance aircraft to conduct maritime and littoral operations.

It can be deployed from a surface ship, helicopter or fixed-wing aircraft to track, classify and destroy underwater targets.

The torpedo’s advanced processing algorithms allow it to analyse information about the targets and filter out false targets or countermeasures.

In 2012, the US Navy awarded a $45.3m contract to Raytheon to supply a MK 54 lightweight torpedo kit to support a foreign military sale to the Royal Australian Navy and the Indian Navy.

Image: A Mk 54 torpedo fired from USS Roosevelt. Photo: courtesy of US Navy Photo by Mass Communication Specialist 2nd Class Justin Wolpert.