India-Us Defence Deal:
The Ministry of Defence has signed a deal with the US Government for procurement of MK 54 Torpedo and Expendable (Chaff and Flares) for the Indian Navy, under Foreign Military Sale (FMS).
- FMS is the U.S. Government’s program for transferring defense articles, services, and training to its international partners and international organizations.
- Expendables are something which can be consumed or used during flight and can not be recovered.
MK 54 Torpedo:
- It is a cigar-shaped, self-propelled underwater missile, launched from a submarine, surface vessel, or airplane and designed for exploding upon contact with the hulls of surface vessels and submarines.
- The MK 54 uses sophisticated processing algorithms to analyze the information, edit out false targets or countermeasures, and then pursue identified threats.
- The primary use of this equipment is for offensive purposes when deployed by anti-submarine warfare aircraft and helicopters, and for defensive purposes when deployed by ships and against fast, deep-diving nuclear submarines and slow-moving, quiet, diesel-electric submarines.
- India intends to use the Mk 54 torpedoes on its P-8I patrol aircraft.
