The MK 50 Honeywell torpedo is a U.S. Navy lightweight anti-submarine torpedo built around acoustic homing and stored chemical energy propulsion for attacks on fast, deep-diving submarines from aircraft and surface combatants.
GAO reporting traces the MK 50 from a 1974 operational requirement through advanced development, full-scale development, and limited production. Honeywell led full-scale development, while the Navy planned competitive production using a leader/follower approach with Westinghouse.
The program was restructured after early operational testing identified performance problems, and later GAO acquisition reporting noted that all 1,073 torpedoes were procured in low-rate initial production after the total buy was reduced.
Sources: GAO Defense Acquisition Programs MK-50 Status; GAO MK-50 Propulsion System Procurement; GAO Weapons Acquisition MK-50 LRIP.
The MK 50 combined acoustic homing with a closed-cycle stored chemical energy propulsion system. GAO described major torpedo sections for command and control, sonar search and acquisition, propulsion, and either a warhead or recoverable exercise section.
Stored chemical energy propulsion drove the torpedo through a pump jet and avoided the same depth penalty associated with open-cycle exhaust.
The exercise section included recording instrumentation and buoyancy equipment for recovery after in-water training shots.
Sources: GAO Defense Acquisition Programs MK-50 Status; DARPA Torpedo Propulsion; MK-50 Advanced Lightweight Torpedo [ALWT].
Public sources treat Block Upgrade I as the main MK 50 software upgrade retained on the torpedo before later Block Upgrade II work fed the Lightweight Hybrid Torpedo / MK 54 path.
| Variant | Configuration | Designation notes |
|---|---|---|
| Block Upgrade I | Software upgrade | A 1992 software effort addressed OPEVAL deficiencies; FAS describes Block Upgrade I as the MK 50 upgrade while later Block Upgrade II algorithms were intended for the Lightweight Hybrid Torpedo. |
Public Navy platform pages identify MK 50 compatibility on maritime patrol and helicopter ASW aircraft.
| Carrier | Carrier type | Carriage evidence |
|---|---|---|
 | Maritime patrol aircraft | NAVAIR and the U.S. Navy fact file list Mk46/50/54 torpedoes among the P-3C Orion's carried anti-submarine weapons. Sources: P-3C Orion - NAVAIR, U.S. Navy P-3C Orion Fact File |
 | LAMPS Mk III naval helicopter | Naval History and Heritage Command identifies Mk 50 torpedoes as one of the lightweight torpedo options carried by the SH-60B Seahawk. Sources: SH-60B Seahawk - NHHC |
The MK 50 was designed as an air- and surface-launched lightweight anti-submarine torpedo.
| Launcher | Launcher type | Launch evidence |
|---|---|---|
 | Guided-missile destroyer | A U.S. Navy image record documents an MK-50 training torpedo launched from USS Bulkeley (DDG 84), and U.S. Sixth Fleet identifies Bulkeley as an Arleigh Burke-class guided-missile destroyer. Sources: MK-50 torpedo launch from USS Bulkeley, USS Bulkeley returns to Rota |
 | Freedom-variant littoral combat ship | NAVSEA's USS Sioux City historical evaluation lists MK 50 Honeywell torpedoes in the Freedom-class ship's armament snapshot. |
The MK 50 was developed as the next-generation lightweight torpedo after the MK 46 torpedo, but later lightweight-torpedo modernization moved toward the MK 54 rather than a large MK 50 production run. U.S. Navy and DOT&E sources describe MK 54 as integrating hardware, software, sonar, and algorithm lineage from the MK 46, MK 50, and MK 48 programs with commercial digital processing.
Sources: MK-50 Advanced Lightweight Torpedo [ALWT]; U.S. Navy MK 54 Lightweight Torpedo Fact File; DOT&E FY2016 MK 54 Lightweight Torpedo.
The Navy established an operational requirement for an advanced lightweight acoustic-homing torpedo to counter the post-1985 Soviet submarine threat.
Sources: GAO Defense Acquisition Programs MK-50 Status
DOD approved advanced development after the MK 50 concept-development phase.
Sources: GAO Defense Acquisition Programs MK-50 Status
DOD approved full-scale development, with Honeywell under a cost-plus-incentive-fee full-scale development contract.
Sources: GAO Defense Acquisition Programs MK-50 Status
Limited production was approved in March 1989 after a restructured test program and initial production decision.
Sources: GAO Defense Acquisition Programs MK-50 Status
A software program began to address OPEVAL deficiencies, producing Block Upgrade I for MK 50 and pushing later algorithm work toward the Lightweight Hybrid Torpedo.
Sources: MK-50 Advanced Lightweight Torpedo [ALWT]
Naval Submarine League history places the end of U.S. Navy MK 50 production in 1996 after a much smaller buy than early objectives.
Sources: U.S. Navy Torpedoes - NSL Archive
