THE HON JOEL FITZGIBBON MP
Minister for Defence
Thursday, 24 July 2008
089/2008
AUSTRALIAN SUBMARINE FIRST TO FIRE
NEW HEAVYWEIGHT TORPEDO
The Minister for Defence, the Hon. Joel Fitzgibbon MP, today congratulated the crew
of the Australian submarine, HMAS Waller, for being the first submarine to
successfully fire a new heavyweight torpedo that has been jointly developed by
Australia and the United States (US).
The firing occurred during the Rim of the Pacific 2008 (RIMPAC 08) exercise,
involving multiple navies off the coast of Hawaii between June and July. This
controlled exercise resulted in the planned sinking of a retired US warship.
“This represents the first new heavyweight torpedo warshot to be fired by either
Navy. Just as significant is the fact that the warshot torpedo was assembled in
Australia,” Mr Fitzgibbon said.
The MK 48 Mod 7 Common Broadband Advanced Sonar System (CBASS) torpedo is
the latest enhancement for the MK 48.
Considered the world’s premier submarine-launched torpedo, the MK 48 Mod 7
represents a superior capability against both surface ships and submarines with
sonar enhancements that make the torpedo an effective weapon in shallow water
and in a countermeasure environment.
The development of the CBASS torpedo has been achieved under an Armaments
Cooperative Program between the United States Navy (USN) and the Royal
Australian Navy (RAN). This partnership has established common requirements,
interfaces, configurations and maintenance standards enabling any Australian or US
submarine to load torpedoes prepared by any Australian or US torpedo maintenance
facility.
This submarine partnership has also led to co-development of a new replacement
combat system, which is being progressively integrated into USN nuclear submarines
and RAN diesel-electric submarines.
This successful live fire exercise underscores the maturity of the joint torpedo and
submarine combat system programs for the RAN and USN.
“For Australia in particular, this exercise has been a successful demonstration of the
ongoing capability of the Collins Class submarine,” Mr Fitzgibbon said.
Media note:
Vision will be distributed to the Parliament House Press Gallery at 12.30pm.
Media contacts:
Christian Taubenschlag (Joel Fitzgibbon):
02 6277 7800 or 0438 595 567
Defence Media Liaison:
02 6265 3343 or 0408 498 664
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