Launch of a Vertical Launch ASROC

The RUM-139 VL-ASROC is an anti-submarine missile in the ASROC family, currently built by the Lockheed Martin company for the U.S. Navy. ASROC (for Anti-Submarine ROCket) is an all-weather all sea-conditions anti-submarine missile system developed by the United States Navy in the 1950s Lockheed Martin ( is a large multinational Aerospace manufacturer and advanced technology Company formed in 1995 by the merger of

The design and development of the missile began in 1983 when the Goodyear Aerospace company was contracted by the U. Goodyear Aerospace Corporation was the aerospace and defence subsidiary of Goodyear. S. Navy to develop a ship-launched anti-submarine missile compatible with the new Mark-41 Vertical Launch System. A Vertical Launching System ( VLS) is a type of Missile -firing system used aboard the Submarines and surface vessels of several navies around the The development of the VLS ASROC underwent many delays, and it was not deployed on any ships until 1993. During this development, Goodyear Aerospace was bought by the Loral aerospace company in 1986, and this defense division was in turn purchased by Lockheed Martin Aerospace in 1995. Loral Space & Communications Inc is a Satellite communications company headed by Michael B

The first VLS ASROC missile was an RUR-5 ASROC with an upgraded solid-fuel booster section and a digital guidance system. It carries a lightweight Mark 46 torpedo homing torpedo that is dropped from the rocket at a precalculated point on its trajectory, and then parachuted into the sea. Designed to attack high-performance submarines the Mark 46 Torpedo is the backbone of the U Beginning in 1996, the missile was replaced by the newer RUM-139A and subsequently the RUM-139B. The torpedo has remained the Mk-46, though at one time an improved torpedo called the Mark-51 was proposed, and then cancelled.

The vertical-launched missile first became operational in 1993, with more than 450 having been produced by 2007. It is nearly 5 meters in length, with a firing range of about 28 kilometers.

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