The US State Department has approved a possible Foreign Military Sale (FMS) to the Netherlands of 106 MK 54 torpedo conversion kits.

The US Defense Security Cooperation Agency (DSCA) said in a 31 July statement that Netherlands requests to buy 106 MK 54 anti-submarine warfare (ASW) torpedo conversion kits.

The approval, which was announced by the DSCA, includes torpedo containers, air launch accessories for rotary wing aircraft, spares, as well as other equipment and support, and is valued at approximately USD169 million.

The Royal Netherlands Navy intends to upgrade its current MK 46 torpedoes to the MK 54 with the purchase of these kits. The Netherlands will have no difficulty absorbing the MK 54 torpedoes.

The principal contractor will be Raytheon Integrated Defense System, Portsmouth, Rhode Island. There are no known offset agreements proposed in connection with this potential sale.

According to the Raytheon, the MK 54 can be deployed from a surface ship, helicopter or fixed wing aircraft to track, classify and attack underwater targets. It uses sophisticated processing algorithms to analyze the information, edit out false targets or countermeasures, and then pursue identified threats. The MK 54 program leverages the most modern torpedo technologies from the MK 50 and MK 48 ADCAP (advanced capability) programs. It also utilizes the proven MK 46 warhead and propulsion subsystems. The result is a low-cost weapon that meets all performance requirements for littoral warfare.