MU90 LIGHT-WEIGHT TORPEDO (LWT)
In 1991, France and Italy agreed to jointly design and develop a state-of-the-art LWT aimed at countering threats posed by modern submarines.
The new system called MU90, entered service in 2007 and was successively delivered by EEIG[1] EuroTorp, a French-Italian consortium, comprising Naval Group, Thales and Leonardo, to several countries including France, Italy, Germany and Australia, which adopted the LWT extensively for their operations at sea.
To optimize costs and enhance benefits, France, Italy, Germany and Australia decided in 2007 to manage the MU90 In-Service Support (ISS) phase cooperatively. Since then, the French Direction Générale de l’Armement (DGA) acted as Executive Agency on behalf of the nations, with EEIG EuroTorp contracted as the ISS provider for the system for more than fifteen years.
In 2020, the OCCAR Board of Supervisors (BoS) accepted to integrate the MU90 LWT ISS Programme into OCCAR. The Programme Decision entered into force on 15 February 2023.
On 28 February 2023, the OCCAR-EA Director, Mr. Joachim Sucker, signed an initial contract with EuroTorp covering all management and technical activities necessary to support the system for a three year period with an option to extend the support for an additional three years. The LWT Programme was integrated into the Small Programmes Programme Division (SP PD) on 01 March 2023.
With more than 1,000 torpedoes currently in service and over 350 sea trials performed by the various navies during the past 20 years, MU90 represents a robust top-level weapons system whose performance remains unpaired on the market.
[1] European Economic Interest Grouping
MU90 ISS Light Weight Torpedo Participating States
