Sailors assigned to the Virginia-class attack submarine USS California (SSN 781) prepare an MK-48 inert training torpedo during an expeditionary ordnance loading exercise onboard Naval Station Rota, Spain. (U.S. Navy Photo by Mass Communication Specialist 1st Class Michael C. Barton/Released).
By Matthew Beinart |
@mbeinart22
4 years ago |
05/20/2020

The State Department has approved a potential $180 million deal with Taiwan for the sale of 18 MK-48 Advanced Technology Heavy Weight Torpedoes.

The Defense Security Cooperation Agency notified Congress on Wednesday of the foreign military sale.

Sailors assigned to the Virginia-class attack submarine USS California (SSN 781) prepare an MK-48 inert training torpedo during an expeditionary ordnance loading exercise onboard Naval Station Rota, Spain. (U.S. Navy Photo by Mass Communication Specialist 1st Class Michael C. Barton/Released).

“The proposed sale will improve the recipient’s capability in current and future defensive efforts. The recipient will use the enhanced capability as a deterrent to regional threats and to strengthen homeland defense. The recipient will have no difficulty absorbing this equipment into its armed forces,” DSCA officials wrote in a statement. 

DSCA noted there is no prime contractor for the deal, and the torpedoes will be procured from existing U.S. Navy stocks.