Navy Arms LCS With “Soft-Kill” Countermeasure to Destroy Enemy Torpedoes

Warrior Maven Video Above – LCS Soft Kill Countermeasure tech

By Kris Osborn – Warrior Maven

The Navy is advancing plans to arm is Littoral Combat Ship with an emerging ship defense soft-kill countermeasure able to identify, track and destroy incoming enemy torpedo fire, Navy officials said.

The service plans to outfit its entire LCS fleet with the AN/SLQ-61 Lightweight Tow Torpedo Defense Mission Module (TDMM) as a way to fortify the ship’s ability to succeed in both shallow water and open or “blue” water warfare, Navy officials told Warrior Maven.

The new TDMM completed two days of at-sea testing several months ago in order to prepare for operational service on LCS ships.

“This test was highly successful, and this critical torpedo defense for the LCS is ready for integration,” Capt. Theodore Zobel, LCS Mission Modules program manager, said in a written statement earlier this year.

A technology uses an underwater acoustic projector, attached to a cable dropped from the ship’s stern to identify acoustic homing and wire-guided enemy torpedoes, service officials described.