L3Harris has verified the design of a fiber-optic cable tether that connects a torpedo to its origin submarine, providing a greater range for communications.

The concept is known as the ‘Improved Post-Launch Communications System’ (IPCLS).

Upon successful testing, L3Harris will work with Naval Sea Systems Command and Program Executive Office Undersea Warfare Systems toward system production.

In the same breath, the US defence prime revealed it will put forward the tethered torpedo as an option for the US Navy’s next-generation heavyweight torpedo iteration – Mk 48 (Mod 8) – which will include upgrades beginning in 2029.

Indo-Pacific

In their press release, L3Harris observed that American forces are pivoting towards the Indo-Pacific theatre.

“We will work with allies and partners to deter aggression in the Indo-Pacific by Communist China,” asserted President Donald Trump’s pick for US Defense Secretary, Pete Hegseth, in a message to the military on 25 January 2025.

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Even under Trump’s predecessor, Joe Biden, the Department of the Navy had increased its forward presence in the region, stationing a Virginia-class fast-attack submarine in Guam for the first time.

“We will work with allies and partners to deter aggression in the Indo-Pacific by Communist China.”

US Defense Secretary, Pete Hegseth

In this complex undersea environment, L3Harris contends that the surety of communications is the best policy. For that reason, IPCLS will ensure greater control and direction over the torpedo, ensuring the flow of real-time data after it has launched from a submarine.

IPLCS replaces legacy copper wire tethers and offers dramatically better communication ranges and “thousands of times more bandwidth.”

While this is true, the tethered approach will limit the torpedo’s range, this may be a a problem in a vast maritime space covering more than 100 million square miles.

Mk 48 Mod 8 requirements

The US Navy continues to modernise and upgrade existing inventory to incorporate the latest capability advancements.

The service has already restarted production of the Mk 48, ramping up production through Fiscal Year 2023 after accepting delivery of the first new production heavyweight torpedoes in over twenty years during the summer of 2022.

Meanwhile, Mk 48 Mod 8 and MK 48 Mod 9 will bring new capabilities and technologies to ensure the country’s advantage is maintained in its contest with China’s rapidly expanding People’s Liberation Army Navy (PLAN).

However, Rear Admiral Fred Pyle, in an interview with the Center for Strategic and International Studies in May 2024, noted that “Quantity, some say, is a quality. But what I would offer is the capability is also very important. And I think that’s where [the US] have an advantage [over PLAN].”

Notably, Mk 48 Mod 8 hardware improvements include an upgraded sonar array designed to expand the torpedo’s acoustic frequency range and improve spatial resolution.

According to a GlobalData thematic intelligence report on ‘Anti-Submarine Warfare’ (2024), the sonar segment accounts for the largest proportion of spending in the underwater systems market over the next decade, registering a 60% share of the market. This is followed by torpedo systems with 15%, and the sonobuoys segment with a 14% share.