U.S Navy To Build Small Drone-Fired Anti-Submarine Weapons For Aircraft Carriers

A tiny weapon that can be fired towards enemy submarines from drones launched from aircraft carriers or other ships is being developed by the U.S Naval Air Systems Command.

Called the Silent Anvil Air-Launched Torpedo or SAA-LT, it will be small in size compared to similar weapons, measuring just 70 inches and weighing about 268 pounds.

The Navy wants the weapon to easily integrate into the bomb rack of fighter planes and bombers. The BRU-61/A rack is used for carrying glide bombs known as GBU-39Bs.

Till now, the naval forces depended on Boeing’s P-8A Poseidon aircraft equipped with missile nd torpedoes for finding submarines.

However, after the development of Silent Anvil, the U.S expects to better target Chinese warships operating in the Indo-Pacific, as the increasing Chinese naval dominance has been a cause of concern not only for the United States but also its allies in the Pacific and Arctic.

The most unique feature of the new weapon is its stealth, since it would approach and strike underwater threats without being detected easily.

Additionally, if the Navy can build such munitions, which do not take up a lot of space and are equally effective as bombs or missiles, then the pressure to build more warships would also reduce, as would the warfighting capabilities.

If they succeed to reducing the weapon to the size of a tiny bomb, then U.S airplanes, drones and fighter jets could conduct anti-submarine operations, changing the nature of underwater naval warfare.

Secondly, this would also mean that the strain on personnel would reduce and they could be allocated new missions to enhance the Navy’s warfighting abilities.

The Navy is also investing in AI technologies for tracking and identifying enemy vessels accurately.

If the new system is developed and then scaled, it could not only shape naval warfare but also how the world believes the standard ways of maintaining an undersea nuclear deterrent.