Northrop Grumman has won a $233 million contract to build a new lightweight torpedo for the U.S. Navy. The torpedo will have a specially designed warhead to make it more powerful.
The company will handle the first production tests at its plant in Plymouth, Minnesota, and at the Allegany Ballistics Laboratory in West Virginia. The contract includes initial manufacturing, testing, and delivery of multiple torpedoes.
The new torpedo is called MK54 MOD 2. It was developed with help from the Australian Defence Force under a U.S. Navy-led program. It will improve the current MK54 MOD 0 and MOD 1 models with better warheads and processing systems.
Dave Fine, Northrop Grumman’s vice president of armament systems, said the company is using over 80 years of torpedo experience to speed up design, testing, and production. He added that the new torpedo will help U.S. and allied sailors counter advanced undersea threats.
The MK54 MOD 2 can track, identify, and attack targets underwater. It is designed to work in all ocean conditions.
Northrop Grumman has nearly 100,000 employees and over 30 million square feet of manufacturing space, which will help it deliver the torpedoes quickly.
