page_title: Anti-submarine weapon
section_title: Anti-submarine rockets and missiles
hierarchical_section_title: Anti-submarine weapon / Anti-submarine technology / Anti-submarine weapons / Anti-submarine rockets and missiles
caption_attribution_description: Caption at original URL: On May 11, 1962, Razorback participated in the "SWORDFISH" nuclear weapons test. An ASROC with a nuclear depth charge warhead was fired by the destroyer Agerholmn (DD 826) at a target raft from a range of 2 nautical miles. Razorback was submerged at periscope depth 2 nautical miles from the target raft. The ASROC weapon produced a powerful underwater shock wave which visibly shook Razorback and her crew. The resulting data was used to formulate tactical doctrine for ASROC, a weapon that remained in front-line service for nearly 30 years.
context_page_description: An anti-submarine weapon is any one of a number of devices that are intended to act against a submarine and its crew, to destroy the vessel or reduce its capability as a weapon of war. In its simplest sense, an anti-submarine weapon is usually a projectile, missile or bomb that is optimized to destroy submarines.
context_section_description: One of the latest anti-submarine weapons, Anti-Submarine ROCkets (ASROCs), SUBROC, the Ikara, the French Malafon, and the Italian MILAS differ from other types of missiles in that instead of having a warhead which the missiles delivers to the target directly and explodes, they carry another anti-submarine weapon to a point of the surface where that weapon is dropped in the water to complete the attack. The missile itself launches from its platform and travels to the designated delivery point.
  The major advantages of anti-submarine missiles are range and speed of attack. Torpedoes are not very fast compared to a missile, nor as long-ranged, and are much easier for a submarine to detect. Anti-sub missiles are usually delivered from surface vessels, offering the surface escort an all-weather, all-sea-conditions instant readiness weapon to attack time-urgent targets that no other delivery system can match for speed of response. They have the added advantage that they are under the direct control of the escort vessel's commander, and unlike air-delivered weapons cannot be diverted to other taskings, or be dependent on weather or maintenance availability. Aircraft delivery can be further compromised by low fuel state or an expended weapon load. The missile is always available, and at instant readiness. It allows the torpedo or nuclear depth bomb to enter the water practically on top of the submarine's position, minimizing the submarine's ability to detect and evade the attack. Missiles are also more rapid and accurate in many cases than helicopters or aircraft for dropping torpedoes and depth charges, with a typical interval of 1 to 1.5 minutes from a launch decision to torpedo splashdown. Helicopters frequently take much longer to just get off the escort's deck.
caption: Nuclear-tipped ASROC anti-submarine rocket test in 1962
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