An anti-submarine missile is a standoff

anti-submarine weapon An anti-submarine weapon (ASW) is any one of a number of devices that are intended to act against a submarine and its crew, to destroy (sink) the vessel or reduce its capability as a weapon of war. In its simplest sense, an anti-submarine weapo ...

. Often a variant of

anti-ship missile An anti-ship missile (AShM) is a guided missile that is designed for use against ships and large boats. Most anti-ship missiles are of the sea skimming variety, and many use a combination of inertial guidance and active radar homing. A goo ...

designs, an anti-submarine systems typically use a jet or

rocket A rocket (from it, rocchetto, , bobbin/spool) is a vehicle that uses jet propulsion to accelerate without using the surrounding air. A rocket engine produces thrust by reaction to exhaust expelled at high speed. Rocket engines work entirely fr ...

engine, to deliver an explosive

warhead A warhead is the forward section of a device that contains the explosive agent or toxic (biological, chemical, or nuclear) material that is delivered by a missile, rocket, torpedo, or bomb. Classification Types of warheads include: * Expl ...

aimed directly at a submarine, a depth charge, or a homing

torpedo A modern torpedo is an underwater ranged weapon launched above or below the water surface, self-propelled towards a target, and with an explosive warhead designed to detonate either on contact with or in proximity to the target. Historically, s ...

that is carried from a launch ship, or other platform, to the vicinity of a target. Ikara missile

History

Depth charges were the earliest weapons designed for use by ships against submerged submarines. These explosives were initially dropped as the ship moved over the presumed location of a submarine. Before World War II, shipboard

sonar Sonar (sound navigation and ranging or sonic navigation and ranging) is a technique that uses sound propagation (usually underwater, as in submarine navigation) to navigate, measure distances (ranging), communicate with or detect objects on o ...

was unable to maintain contact with a submarine at close range. Various mortar-type projectors, including

Hedgehog A hedgehog is a spiny mammal of the subfamily Erinaceinae, in the eulipotyphlan family Erinaceidae. There are seventeen species of hedgehog in five genera found throughout parts of Europe, Asia, and Africa, and in New Zealand by introductio ...

and Squid, were devised during

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposing ...

to allow a ship to maintain sonar contact while lobbing explosive charges toward the submarine. During the Cold War,

missile In military terminology, a missile is a guided airborne ranged weapon capable of self-propelled flight usually by a jet engine or rocket motor. Missiles are thus also called guided missiles or guided rockets (when a previously unguided rocke ...

s were developed to provide greater range with reduced

recoil Recoil (often called knockback, kickback or simply kick) is the rearward thrust generated when a gun is being discharged. In technical terms, the recoil is a result of conservation of momentum, as according to Newton's third law the force r ...

. Some missiles and rockets, such as Hong Sang Eo (Red Shark) carry

homing torpedo A modern torpedo is an underwater ranged weapon launched above or below the water surface, self-propelled towards a target, and with an explosive warhead designed to detonate either on contact with or in proximity to the target. Historically, su ...

es to provide terminal guidance for the warhead. The advantage of an anti-submarine missile is the attack stand-off range. The Swedish Bofors 375mm m/50

Anti-Submarine Warfare Anti-submarine warfare (ASW, or in older form A/S) is a branch of underwater warfare that uses surface warships, aircraft, submarines, or other platforms, to find, track, and deter, damage, or destroy enemy submarines. Such operations are t ...

(ASW) rockets, in the past commonly used by Sweden, France, Japan and Germany for instance, can travel as far as 3600m depending on the rocket used. The USSR developed its own anti-submarine rockets in the RBU series and these are still in use in Russia and in countries using Russian designed ships. Today anti-submarine rockets have been phased out in most western navies, replaced by the Homing ASW Torpedo.

Examples

* Australia **

Ikara Ikara is a town in Kaduna State, northern Nigeria, located around 75 kilometres north-east away from the city of Zaria. Ikara as a district consist of five towns which are Ikara, Tudun - wada, Nasarawa, Sabon - Gari, Jamfalan, Kurmin - Kogi, Hay ...

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic, Pacific and Indian Oceans. Its metropolitan area ...

Malafon Malafon (MArine LAtécoère FONds) was a French ship-launched anti-submarine missile system. Developed in the 1950s and 1960s, the weapon was intended to take advantage of the greater detection ranges possible with towed sonar arrays. The missil ...

India India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the so ...

SMART Smart or SMART may refer to: Arts and entertainment * ''Smart'' (Hey! Say! JUMP album), 2014 * Smart (Hotels.com), former mascot of Hotels.com * ''Smart'' (Sleeper album), 1995 debut album by Sleeper * '' SMart'', a children's television se ...

Italy Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical ...

** Otomat#MILAS * Japan **

Type 07 Vertical Launch Anti-submarine rocket is a Japanese ship-launched anti-submarine missile. Description Since FY1991, the has started developing the range-extended version of ASROC to exploit the greater direct-path range of new low-frequency sonar (OQS-XX: later OQS-2x series). After ...

Norway Norway, officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic country in Northern Europe, the mainland territory of which comprises the western and northernmost portion of the Scandinavian Peninsula. The remote Arctic island of Jan Mayen and the ...

Terne ASW Terne is a Norwegian anti-submarine weapon system, which uses rocket-thrown depth charges. It was developed by the Norwegian Defence Research Establishment (FFI) in cooperation with the U.S. Navy in the late 1940s-early 1960s. The Terne developme ...

People's Republic of China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. It is the world's most populous country, with a population exceeding 1.4 billion, slightly ahead of India. China spans the equivalent of five time zones and ...

** CJ-1 Torpedo ** CY Series *

South Korea South Korea, officially the Republic of Korea (ROK), is a country in East Asia, constituting the southern part of the Korean Peninsula and sharing a land border with North Korea. Its western border is formed by the Yellow Sea, while its eas ...

** Hong Sang Eo (Red Shark) *

Soviet Union The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, ...

Russian Federation Russia (, , ), or the Russian Federation, is a transcontinental country spanning Eastern Europe and Northern Asia. It is the largest country in the world, with its internationally recognised territory covering , and encompassing one-eig ...

** 85RU ** RPK-2 Vyuga ** 86R ** 88R **

RPK-1 Vikhr The RPK-1 Vikhr NATO reporting name SUW-N-1 (russian: РПК-1 «Вихрь» - meaning Whirlwind) was a Soviet nuclear anti submarine missile system. FRAS-1 was the NATO code for the missile round itself. The development of the missile was o ...

RPK-9 Medvedka RPK-9 Medvedka ("Mole cricket", NATO Designation SS-N-29) is a modern missile system used to engage submarines. The system consists of a launcher with eight missiles, each with the small torpedo as the warhead. Currently this system is installed ...

Metel Anti-Ship Complex ''Metel'' Anti-Ship Complex (russian: противолодочный комплекс «Метель» 'Snowstorm'; NATO reporting name: SS-N-14 Silex) is a Russian family of anti-submarine missiles. There are different anti-submarine variants (' ...

** 3M-54 Kalibr *

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the European mainland, continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotlan ...

/ Australia **

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territori ...

RUM-139 VL-ASROC The RUM-139 VL-ASROC is an anti-submarine missile in the ASROC family, currently built by Lockheed Martin for the U.S. Navy. History Design and development of the missile began in 1983 when Goodyear Aerospace was contracted by the U.S. Navy to de ...

RUR-5 ASROC The RUR-5 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, it was deployed in the 1960s, updated in the 1990s, and eventually installed ...

UUM-44 SUBROC The UUM-44 SUBROC (SUBmarine ROCket) was a type of submarine-launched rocket deployed by the United States Navy as an anti-submarine weapon. It carried a 250 kiloton thermonuclear warhead configured as a nuclear depth bomb. Development SUBRO ...

References

Anti-submarine warfare Anti-submarine warfare (ASW, or in older form A/S) is a branch of underwater warfare that uses surface warships, aircraft, submarines, or other platforms, to find, track, and deter, damage, or destroy enemy submarines. Such operations are t ...

Anti-submarine missiles An anti-submarine weapon (ASW) is any one of a number of devices that are intended to act against a submarine and its crew, to destroy (sink) the vessel or reduce its capability as a weapon of war. In its simplest sense, an anti-submarine weapo ...

Anti-submarine weapons An anti-submarine weapon (ASW) is any one of a number of devices that are intended to act against a submarine and its crew, to destroy (sink) the vessel or reduce its capability as a weapon of war. In its simplest sense, an anti-submarine weapo ...

Missile types

Guided missiles In military terminology, a missile is a guided airborne ranged weapon capable of self-propelled flight usually by a jet engine or rocket motor. Missiles are thus also called guided missiles or guided rockets (when a previously unguided rocket i ...

{{Navy-stub