Navy On Cusp of Awarding Contract for New Torpedo.

• Author: Easley, Mikayla
• Position: NEWS BRIEFS

NATIONAL HARBOR, Md.--The Navy is poised to award the contract for its first new torpedo in more than two decades.

In October, the sea service released a request for proposals for the Compact Rapid Attack Weapon program. The RFP sought bids to manufacture the prototype for the very lightweight torpedo, or VLWT, developed by Pennsylvania State University's Applied Research Laboratory. Once fielded, it will be the Navy's newest torpedo since the 1990s.

While it is unclear who responded to the RFP, Northrop Grumman entered its own prototype torpedo into the production contract competition in November, said David Portner, the company's senior program manager for undersea weapons.

"The contract that we bid on is essentially to transition the effort from Penn State to industry, and our focus is to essentially modify the design to make it lower cost in production," Portner said on the sidelines of the Navy League's annual Sea-Air-Space conference in National Harbor, Maryland.

He added the corporation is waiting for a decision on a 'dayto-day basis" from the Navy.

At 9 feet long and around 200 pounds, Northrop Grumman's VLWT prototype is a fraction of the size and weight of the 600-pound Mark 54 lightweight torpedoes currently used by the Navy. The size would allow the Navy to carry more torpedoes on a submarine, and even create the option for either manned or unmanned aircraft to carry them, Portner said.

In addition, the torpedo will be able to perform both defensive and offensive missions depending upon how the software is configured. The compact rapid attack...