Are any Navy aircraft (or Marine or USAF) configured to carry torpedoes?

Question

I ask this, with the scenairo that we have to sink, "right away", say a container ship (with Chemicals, oil, fuel), taken over by terrorists and heading for one of our ports, would Guided munitions, iron bombs, be able to sink it "in time"? I have seen footage of just how much damage surface ships can absorb (both military and civilian) before they sink. The excocet etc. types of missles are effective, but would an air dropped torpedo, with modern guidence systems and enhanced warheads, be a more efficent (quicker) way to sink/stop such an attack (rapid response, flexibility etc.) vs. that from a ship/sub, which may be out of position?.Can any modern aircraft carry them? Comments?

Answer 1

US Naval Aircraft that can carry torpedos are:

P-3C Update III Orion - can carry 4 Mk-46 or Mk-50 torpedos
S-3B Viking - can carry 4 Mk-46 or Mk-50 torpedos
SH-60B or F Seahawk - can carry 2-3 Mk-46 or Mk-50 torpedos.

Those are the ONLY current US Aircraft equiped to carry torpedos.

The Mk-46 and Mk-50 torpedos are ANTI SUBMARINE weapons. The Mk-46 would be almost useless against a surface contact, though a Mk-50 might work.

Despite someone's claims... AIR-DROPPED torpedos can NOT be guided from the aircraft or a ship. That is MOVIE sillyness.

The P-3C and S-3B can carry the AGM-84 Harpoon missile, which is an ANTI-SHIPPING missile, much more effective. The SH-60B can carry the Penguin and Hellfire missile... which could certainly cripple a ship.

The BEST technique would be a P-3 or near-by warship with a Harpoon, or a sub-launched Mk-48 torpedo

Answer 2

actual Air stress planes CAN land on an plane service, notwithstanding there is purely one plane which could do it as we talk and that is the C-one hundred thirty Hercules. The Air stress and army proved it may nicely be finished about 20 years in the past by using putting up the emergency netting to offer up the plane as C-one hundred thirty's do not have an arrestor hook and a C-one hundred thirty can take off from an plane service because the deliver's deck is lengthy sufficient to finish that. The Joint Strike Fighter is being designed to alieviate the incompatability of Air stress Jets and army plane organizations. BTW, The F-18 Hornet is a army jet and is service-able. You prolly meant the F-16 Falcon or the F-15 Eagle. in many situations we've mutual-protection treaties with more desirable than some strategically chosen countries international and could use both their bases or their airports for Air stress operations by using those agreements.

Answer 3

well the torpedo cannot be faster than any missile, because the missile simply travels through the air and is fater because of lower friction.
One single Exocet is well able to take out the cruiser /demonstrated during falkland war/ yet even an unarmored cargo ship. the same with the harpoon/penguin and similar missiles.

Like others wrote, the ship could be retaken or sunk by special forces.

Helicopters like the HH 60, carry air launched torpedoes.

Answer 4

Aircraft like the PC-3 Orion and Breguet Atlantic are capable of carrying torpedoes and have been routinely used in maritime warfare with telling effects. With the new modern guidance systems built into the current generation of torpedoes, the inputs can be fed from the aircraft's control console and the launch and subsequent manoeuvring can be done from on board the aircraft. The torpedo still remains a very lethal weapon against shipping, and the marine pilots are fully trained in this form of warfare to the same level as their colleagues on the surface ships or submarines.

Answer 5

Dedicated anti-submarine aircraft, such as the P-3, S-3 & H-60 still carry torpedos but they are better suited for sinking submarines than surface ships. The Harpoon anti-ship missile has proven far more effective against surface targets.

Answer 6

These Seahawk aircraft's are world's most capable aircraft's.In this Seahawk family,there is a New anti-submarine warfare helicopter named as SH60B,U.S.Navy.
One more multimission naval helicopter from Sikorsky S-70 family, i.e. SH-60B.It is a powerful another Seahawk helicopter into US Army.It has a twin turbo shaft engine.SH-60B has a comfortable and spacious cabin and able to accommodate 4 flight crew.SH-60B able to carry 1800kg of cargo and external rated to carry upto 2725kg.The speed of this Seahawk 60B is 270km/h.To know more

Answer 7

Many aircraft can be configured for anti-submarine warfare (ASW). P-3s are the most commonly used platforms, but other fixed-wing and helo platforms are also used

The M-46 and M-50 are the most commonly utilized torpedoes from ASW aircraft

Answer 8

No. Aerial torpedoes haven't been used since WW2. The current air launched anti-ship weapons would be:
1- Harpoon
2- JDAM
3- JSSAM (if it ever gets on track)
4- GBU12
5- Exocet follow-on
In air-ship ops since WW2, dumb bombs, Exocets, and even AIM7 Sparrows have been used to sink ships. A torpedo requires a low and slow aircraft, plus you've got to get within range. Against any sort of sophisticated air defenses that would be suicidal.
These all have a warhead equal to or greater than that of a torpedo. The Harpoon has a heavier warhead than Exocet et al, and has the same waterline targeting algorithms.
Just to be clear, the P3/S3 (out of service in USN) etc are Antisubmarine platforms, not antiship. The torpedoes they carry are strictly ASW weapons. The P3 carries Harpoon for over the horizon targeting.

Answer 9

I don't know if navy/marines jets are able to carry torpedoes, but almost sure that for example P-3 "orion" and Navy helicopters are because of they AntiSubmarine role and it's evident that you can't sink a submarine with normal A-G or antiship missiles (like Maverick, Penguin, Kormorant, Exocet)
I know for example OTO Milas that is an antisubmarine missile(the warhead is a light torpedo MU90) with a range of about 55km

Answer 10

Your scenario would be last gasp. The obvious solution would be to board and re-take the vessel. However, keeping your worst case in play...

Pick a weapon, and the ship goes down... Iron bombs, the MOAB, and various missiles, and yes even torps. With today's "smart bombs" the surface ship (civilian) doesn't stand a chance against modern air superiority.

Courtesy of 9-11, all major and most minor shipping ports have extensive security in place (way to go Coasties!), and they are more than capable of dealing with this very scenario,

I live in Alaska, and even our ports, get extra security, and we see the Coast Guard practicing on a regular basis. They overfly the port and all entrances to the port checking every boat, ship, rubber dingy, and inner tube just to be safe.

Semper Fi my friend.