U.S. Navy to overhaul torpedo stockpile under new budget for two-war strategy
The U.S. Navy plans to overhaul its torpedo inventory under a newly approved congressional budget aimed at preparing the military to fight two major regional conflicts at once, Naval News reported.
Lawmakers directed the Navy to build quantities of undersea weapons sufficient to sustain two simultaneous regional wars, Naval News said. Manufacturers are focusing on bolstering supplies of the MK-48 Advanced Capability heavyweight torpedo and the MK-54 lightweight torpedo to meet minimum base requirements set by the budget, the outlet reported.
The Navy has not disclosed the exact number of torpedoes the overhaul would include, Naval News reported, saying the targets are based on internal estimates of potential conflicts with near-peer forces. The Navy also must produce a plan to rapidly expand torpedo production during wartime or peacetime if necessary, according to the report.
The overhaul comes as the military works to replenish other depleted munitions used in a recent exchange of strikes involving Iran. An analysis by the Jewish Institute for National Security of America found that defending Israel and Al Udeid Air Base in Qatar during a 12-day exchange of strikes cost between $1.48 billion and $1.58 billion and burned through a significant number of offensive and defensive missile systems, JINSA said.
JINSA calculated that the U.S. had about 632 Terminal High Altitude Area Defense interceptors before June 13 and about 540 remain, and that the U.S. used roughly 14% of its global THAAD stockpile. The analysis said THAAD accounted for nearly half of all interceptions during the exchange because Israel’s Arrow system had insufficient capacity, and that replenishing used THAAD interceptors would take three to eight years at current production rates. JINSA also said Patriot production is more robust but noted that some Patriots have been provided to Ukraine, making current U.S. stock levels unclear. Fox News’ Morgan Phillips contributed to the reporting of the original account.
Source: Original Article
