Pat Conroy and chief of Anduril Australia said “lightweight torpedoes and heavy weight torpedoes”.Can a cradle be fitted for heavyweight torpedoes ?
He didn’t mention type, numbers or method of firing for any of those things.
The weapons bay is entirely modular, so what we have seen so far is only “some” of it’s capabilities. If RAN is introducing a new type of operational torpedo I am sure we will hear about it in due course, but for the moment I am going to assume by “heavy weight” he meant a Mk.48 torpedo and by “light weight” torpedoes he meant Mk.54 (because they are American and in-service with RAN, though there is nothing to say they haven’t integrated MU-90).
So if as mentioned a Ghostshark is capable of deploying a pair of heavyweight torpedoes, then perhaps a pair of anti-ship missiles might also be a capability it can deploy at some future point, as mentioned by Markmiles77.And finally, torpedoes and effectors. Ghost Shark’s large payload bays also support the deployment of heavyweight and lightweight torpedoes, including modern, unmanned, cost-effective, undersea effectors, and the vehicle will be capable of engaging threats independently. This only happens with an engineering approach that supports it. Anduril’s open system architecture means new payloads can be integrated quickly as they develop and mature over time, ensuring that Ghost Shark’s potency is always at the cutting edge and at least one step ahead of the emerging threats.
How this is to be deployed, hasn’t been revealed, the initial 3 payloads - sea mines, logistics caches and ISR / strike via Anduril Altius UAS are the “initial” operational capability.
Additional capability drops will undoubtedly be revealed over time.
@StingrayOZ both Anduril and Pat Conroy have confirmed the platform is capable of deploying and employing both lightweight torpedoes and heavyweight torpedoes. This is a capability that has not yet been delivered, but it is coming. ASM’s / land attack cruise missiles may well too. If it can manage multiple Mk.48 Mod 7 ADCAP, then it could handle a missile all the way up to Tomahawk TLAM from a size / weight POV…
One might question whether a pair of torpedoes or a pair of Tomahawks was worth the effort?
Well, what if you deployed 20 or 30 of these to a single operation? Or 50? Would that be worth the effort? Could an SSN or a Hunter perhaps control up to 50x Ghostsharks on a single deployment? Maybe…
We are buying “dozens and dozens” of these afterall. I don’t think the “rule of 3” applies so well to this capability…
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