MU90 Impact

Template:Template other The MU90 Impact is a Franco-Italian advanced lightweight anti-submarine torpedo of the third generation developed for the French and Italian navies, as well as for export. It is designed to outperform the United States-built Mark 54 in and was developed in a special MU90 Hard Kill version for anti-torpedo defence. It is built by EuroTorp, a consortium of French and Italian companies.

History

The MU90 was the result of separate projects in France and Italy from the 1980s. In France, a project under the direction of Thomson Sintra created the "Murène" in 1989, while in Italy WASS started work on an A244 replacement known as the A290. In 1990 the first attempts to merge the two efforts started, a process that was completed in 1993 with the formation of EuroTorp.

France intended to use the new torpedo on its frigates, Atlantique 2 aircraft, Lynx helicopters and NFH90 helicopters. It originally wanted 1000 units, but the end of the Cold War saw this cut to 600 in 1991, 450 in 2000 and finally 300 in 2008. The project cost the government €1,150m in 2012 prices at a unit cost of €1.6m, or €3.8m including development costs. It received 25 torpedoes a year until 2014.

Design

The MU90 is designed to be capable of discriminating between actual and perceived threat, including a bottomed stationary mini-submarine, known versions of anechoic coatings, and various decoys. It is also capable of launch speeds up to , allowing it to be dropped from maritime patrol aircraft flying at high speeds, or rocket-assist launchers. Powered by an electric pump-jet, it can be run at "silent" speeds to avoid giving its location away to the submarine, or "dash" at speeds over 29 knots. It uses a shaped charge warhead that can penetrate any known submarine hull, in particular Soviet double hull designs, while remaining just as deadly in shallow waters where conventional warheads are less effective.

In 1986 France and Italy began a collaboration to develop an anti-submarine missile based on the Italian Otomat missile. France dropped out of the programme but Italy has fitted the MBDA MILAS missile to its s and FREMM anti-submarine frigates. MILAS is an missile that can deliver a MU90 to .

Exports

After deciding that its Mark 46 torpedoes were inadequate, Australia set up the JP2070 project in 1998 to buy torpedoes for its s, s, AP-3C Orion aircraft, S-70B-2 Seahawk helicopters and planned SH-2G(A) Super Seasprite helicopters. The Seasprites were cancelled and the Orions and Seahawks were removed from the MU90 programme on budget grounds; their replacements, the P-8 Poseidon and MH-60R Seahawk will use the US Mark 54 torpedo. The A$639m project to buy a classified number of MU90 has been heavily criticised by the Australian National Audit Office on the grounds of cost, insufficient test firings which failed to reveal defects in the torpedo, and the lack of commonality with the Navy's air-launched torpedoes. The MU90 reached IOC in November 2012.

File:MU90 Impact operators.png

Map with MU90 operators in blue

Operators

Aircraft

Current aircraft operational with the MU90

France

• Atlantique 2
• NHIndustries NH90 NFH - Caïman Marine

Germany

• Westland Sea Lynx Mk 88 A

Italy

• AgustaWestland EH101 ASW/ASuW
• NHIndustries NH90 NFH

Poland

• Kaman SH-2G Super Seasprite
• Mil Mi-14PŁ

Qatar

• NHIndustries NH90 NFH

Future aircraft to use the MU90

Germany

• NHIndustries NH90 NFH - Sea Tiger

Potential aircraft to use the MU90

France

• Airbus A321MPA

Poland

• AgustaWestland AW101 ASW

Aircraft retired that used the MU90

France

• Westland WG13 Lynx

Germany

• Lockheed P-3 Orion (P-3C CUP+ variant). Note: the aircraft sold to Portugal.

Ships

Current ships operational with the MU90

Australia

• 3 destroyers (each ship with 2 × Mark 32 Mod 9 torpedo launchers).
• 7 frigates, a variant of the MEKO 200 class (each ship with 2 × Mark 32 Mod 9 torpedo launchers).

Denmark

• 2 frigates (each ship with 2 × Mark 32 Mod 14 torpedo launchers).
• 3 frigates (each ship with 2 × Eurotorp B515 torpedo launchers).
• 3 patrol vessels (each ship with 1 × torpedo launcher).

Egypt

• 1 Tahya Misr ASW frigate based on the Acquitaine class, the French FREMM (2 × Eurotorp B515/3 torpedo launchers).
• 2 Bergamini class frigates (general purpose variant), the Italian FREMM (each ship with 2 × Eurotorp B515/3 torpedo launchers).
• 6 MEKO A-200 EN class frigates (each ship with 2 × Eurotorp B515/2 torpedo launchers).
• 4 Gowind 2500 class corvettes (each ship with 2 × Eurotorp B515/3 torpedo launchers).

France

• 8 Acquitaine class frigates, the French FREMM (each ship with 2 × Eurotorp B515/3 torpedo launchers).
• 2 frigates (each ship with 2 × Eurotorp B515/1 torpedo launchers).

Germany

• 3 (Type 124) frigates (each ship with 2 × Eurotorp B515 torpedo launchers).

Italy

• 2 Andrea Doria class destroyer (each ship with 2 × Eurotorp B515/1 torpedo launchers).
• 4 Bergamini class frigates (general purpose variant), the Italian FREMM (each ship with 2 × Eurotorp B515/3 torpedo launchers).
• 6 Bergamini class frigates (the ASW and the ASW / GP variants), the Italian FREMM (each ship with 2 × Eurotorp B515/3 torpedo launchers and with the MILAS missile).

Morocco

• 1 Mohammed VI ASW frigate based on the Acquitaine class, the French FREMM (2 × Eurotorp B515/3 torpedo launchers).
• 3 Damen SIGMA 10513 class frigates (2 × Eurotorp B515/3 torpedo launchers).

Poland

• 2 frigates, transferred from the US Navy, modified to operate the MU90.

Singapore

• 6 frigates, available on the class after modernisation (2 × Eurotorp B515/3 torpedo launchers).

United Arab Emirates

• 2 Gowind class corvettes (2 × Eurotorp B515/3 torpedo launchers).

Future ships to use the MU90

Australia

• 3 frigates on order (+ 3 expected), a variant of the Type 26 class (each ship with 2 × EuroTorp MU90 TLS torpedo launchers).

France

• 5 Defence and intervention frigate class (each ship with 2 × EuroTorp MU90 TLS torpedo launchers).

Greece

• 4 frigates on order, a variant of the Defence and intervention frigate class (each ship with 2 × EuroTorp MU90 TLS torpedo launchers).

Italy

• 2 FREMM EVO frigates (ASW-enhanced variant), the Italian FREMM (each ship with 2 × Eurotorp B515/3 torpedo launchers)

Note: the FREMM EVO seems to be the last ship in production to receive the MU90, as the OPV is receiving the new lightweight torpedo from Leonardo, the Black Arrow.

Poland

• 3 Template:Ill frigates, a variant of the Type 31 class (each ship with 2 × EuroTorp MU90 TLS torpedo launchers).

Ukraine

• 2 Ada class corvettes.

Potential ships to use the MU90

Australia

• Up to 11 New FFM, an upgraded variant of the , it might use the same torpedo as the other Australian Navy ships.

Denmark

• 6 OMT MPV-80 modular OPV, for which planned ASW modules that could use the MU90 torpedo.

Singapore

• 6 MRCV class MCM (2 × Eurotorp B515 torpedo launchers with MU90 or A244 MOD.3).

Ships that used the MU90

Australia

• 4 modernised frigates, a variant of the (each ship with 2 × Mark 32 Mod 5 torpedo launchers). Note: 2 ships sold to Chile with the torpedo launchers capable to use the MU90.

France

• 7 frigates (each ship with 2 × torpedo launchers).

Italy

• 2 destroyers, (each ship with 2 × Eurotorp B515 torpedo launchers and with the MILAS missile).

Cancelled projects that would have used the MU90

Poland

• 6 corvettes, a variant of the MEKO A-100, were planned, of which only 1 was built (the ORP Ślązak). The MU90 was supposed to be used, but the project ended up not using it.

See also

• Torped 47 — Swedish equivalent
• Mark 54 Lightweight Torpedo — US Navy's equivalent
• Sting Ray (torpedo) — British equivalent
• APR-3E torpedo — Russian equivalent
• A244-S — Italian equivalent
• TAL Shyena — Indian equivalent
• Yu-7 torpedo — Chinese equivalent
• K745 Chung Sang Eo — South Korean equivalent
• Type 97 light weight torpedo (G-RX4) — Japanese equivalent