Navy gives littoral-combat ship soft-kill weapon to fend off torpedoes

The U.S. Navy’s littoral combat ship is now armed with an emerging ship defense soft-kill countermeasure able to identify, track, and destroy incoming enemy torpedo fire. Navy leaders plan to outfit the entire littoral combat ship (LCS) fleet with the AN/SLQ-61 Lightweight Tow Torpedo Defense Mission Module (TDMM) to fortify the ship’s ability to succeed in both shallow- and open-water warfare. The new TDMM has completed two days of at-sea testing to prepare for operational service on LCS ships. The technology uses an underwater acoustic projector, attached to a cable dropped from the ship’s stern to identify acoustic homing and wire-guided enemy torpedoes.