Keyport Technicians working on a Mark 48 in early 1982. U.S. Navy Photograph No. DN-SC-86-00553.

Naval News reports,

A new line item in the U.S. Navy Fiscal Year 2026 budget is supporting a containerized Mark 48 Advanced Capability (ADCAP) torpedo launcher for use on unmanned surface vessels (USV) and small combatants.

But looks like there may be more to it than the very expensive Mk48 torpedo.

“Program Executive Office, Unmanned and Small Combatants (PEO USC) is leading the effort and will deliver a 3.5 hour presentation about Liberator and a related unmanned undersea vehicle (UUV) payload…The Liberator provides for the development of alternative methods for launching torpedoes or similar devices…”

The Mk48 is intended to be used against the most demanding (nuclear submarines) in the most hostile environment. They have to be fast and they need to be capable of surviving great pressure. For this reason they are extremely expensive. The basic design goes back to 1972 but there have been many improvements.

Torpedo tubes are already being used to launch and recover Uncrewed Underwater Vehicles (UUVs). Plus we have begun seeing new cheaper torpedoes.

• “Navy Wants A Cheap Heavy Torpedo That Can Be Stockpiled Fast.”
• Anduril is offering UUVs that launch from torpedo tubes and look an awful lot like torpedoes.
• Multiple 6.75″ Mk58 Compact Rapid Attack Weapons (CRAW) can be fired from a single 21″torpedo tube using the Revolver mechanism.

I find this exciting because it looks like we might have a relative inexpensive anti-surface torpedo. It would allow a Patrol Boat to stop even a large ship.