There have been reports for years of the Russian RBU systems being used for torpedo defense. A note appeared in Surface Warfare in 1979 that RBU rocket launchers might provide anti-torpedo protection. Other journals have also mentioned the possibility. They are certainly short-range, some say too short-ranged to be an effective ASW weapon. On the other hand, they are cheap and effective ASW weapons in the shallow water in which the Russians have to operate. Their location near the stern of many Russian ships also makes sense as part of an torpedo defense system. However, I have never been able to get enough data to include the capability in Harpoon. Now the Russians are offering for sale a dedicated torpedo defense system, the RPK Liven'. Using ten 300mm tubes, it can fire standard Type 89 ASW projectiles or Special UDAV-1 anti-torpedo projectiles. These are a mix of decoys and suspended depth charges. The decoys weigh 210 kg each and are packed two in each tube. They are active devices and are supposed to seduce the weapon away from the ship. The explosive charges weigh 232 kg each, and are suspended by floats below the surface at the depth of a running torpedo. The charge would be detonated by an acoustic fuze if the torpedo passed dose enough. The system is cued by a dedicated hull-mounted torpedo warning sonar, and has a reaction time of less than fifteen seconds. The Liven' has a range of 1.62 nm, although it is not clear if it would always fire at maximum range. The minimum range is 100 yards. Each magazine has 30 rounds, enough for three salvoes. The Russians claim that the system has been in service since 1990, and is fitted to Admiral Gorshkov (exBaku), Admiral Kuznetsov, Admiral Nakhimov and Petr Velikiy. They also claim a Pk of over 90% against a non-homing straight-runner, and about 75% against a homing weapon. Right. Assume that the system has a 25% chance of destroying one torpedo approaching from within its firing arc each firing phase. It probably takes three Tactical Turns to reload the mount, assuming it reloads one barrel at a time like the RBU 6000. BT Back to The Naval Sitrep #5 Table of Contents Back to Naval Sitrep List of Issues Back to MagWeb Master Magazine List © Copyright 1995 by Larry Bond and Clash of Arms. This article appears in MagWeb (Magazine Web) on the Internet World Wide Web. Other military history and related articles are available at http://www.magweb.com