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Engineers at Lockheed Martin in Orlando, Florida, successfully demonstrated the High-Altitude ASW Weapons Concept, or HAAWC, from a P-3 Orion maritime patrol aircraft in May. HAAWC employs a wing adapter kit to allow patrol aircraft to launch torpedoes from high altitudes and standoff ranges. During the test, which was conducted at the Atlantic Undersea Test and Evaluation Center in the Bahamas, the Mk.54 torpedo was launched from the internal weapon bay of the P-3 as it flew above 8,000 feet. After the HAAWC-equipped torpedo executed a turn at a predetermined waypoint, it navigated via GPS to its normal launch altitude close to the surface of the ocean. The torpedo's wings self-jettisoned just before the weapon entered the water.
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