USS Roosevelt (DDG 80) performs exercise with Mark 54 Mod 0 lightweight torpedos, 16 April 2014. Credit: US Navy via Wikimedia Commons.

In the same breath, the German Navy announced its acquisition of Mk54 torpedos as well as command and control infrastructure to enhance its expanding maritime network.

The German Parliamentary Budget Committee granted its approval for defence investments collectively worth €1bn ($1.08bn) – for these naval items, but also for 155-millimetre munitions and 1,500 trucks for the Army – on 5 June 2024.

Mk54 torpedos

The service will procure Mk54 torpedos from the US Government to be used on its three new P-8A Poseidon maritime patrol aircraft, which it ordered in November last year. This follows the Committee’s approval to purchase five other P-8As back in 2021.

Raytheon, a prime US missile manufacturer, has developed these anti-submarine warfare weapons since 2004. Mk54 is capable of tracking, classifying and attacking underwater targets.

Designed for launch from surface ships, fixed-wing aircraft and helicopters, Mk54 replaces the US Navy’s Mk46 torpedo. It is capable of operating in both littoral and deep-water environments.

In addition to the US, the torpedo is used by the Indian Navy, Royal Australian Navy, Royal Thai Navy and the UK Royal Air Force.

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Specifically, Germany will buy Mk54 mod 0 lightweight torpedos. These weapons integrate existing hardware and software from the previous Mk46 and Mk50 torpedo programmes with commercial-off-the-shelf (COTS) digital signal-processing technology.

The Mk54 mod 0 reached initial operational capability (IOC) in 2004, while the next iteration, mod 1, reached IOC in 2023. Mod 1 is the latest variant; it provides a hardware upgrade to the sonar array assembly and associated electronics.

A new Maritime Operating Centre

The German Ministry of Defence will also improve its maritime network, the so-called ‘German Mission Network – Block II’ (GMN-2).

Nearly €100m from a special fund was allocated to bring together the operational capabilities of the naval command, currently located in Glucksberg, in the Hanse Barracks in Rostock.

This involves the establishment of the Maritime Operations, the Fleet Entry Point and the Maritime Component Command, primarily with IT equipment.

This facility will serve as the ‘operations centre’ for the fleet worldwide. By the end of 2025, the current standards of command capability are to be achieved in the new building of the naval command in Rostock. One year later, these standards will be available in an expanded form.