The United States Navy in the Cold War Era: What ifs.

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Formerly the ASW Stand-Off Weapon (SOW), the Sea Lance is a submarine-launched weapon that provides a rocket booster for a Mark 50 ASW torpedo. Although often labeled a successor to SUBROC, the Sea Lance would initially have only a conventional (torpedo) warhead, whereas the SUBROC carries only a nuclear depth bomb. The Sea Lance warhead may thus inhibit its use at longer ranges because of the limited target localization capability of the Mark 50. Plans to provide a nuclear warhead for Sea Lance have been delayed indefinitely.

The Sea Lance is designed for attacks out to the third sonar Convergence Zone (CZ), i.e., approximately 90-100nm. However, when fitted with the Mark 50 torpedo, the effective range will probably by only the first CZ, i.e., some 30-35nm. The weapon is stowed in and launched from a standard 21-inch torpedo tube in a canister, much like the Harpoon anti-ship missile and the CAPTOR encapsulated mine. When the capsule reaches the surface, the missile booster ignites, in effect launching the missile on a ballistic trajectory toward the target area. At a designated point the torpedo separates from the booster, is slowed to re-enter the water and seeks out the hostile submarine.
During the concept stage, the Navy envisioned a common ASW stand-off weapons for surface ships and submarines. The technical and program difficulties proved too great, however, and the surface-launched system became the Vertical0Launch ASROC (VLA).

The Sea Lance is currently one-year behind scheduled, primarily due to the decision in 1986 to emphasize the conventional torpedo as a warhead rather than the nuclear depth bomb.

Weight: 3,100lbs Length: 20 ½ft (6.25m) Diameter: 21 inch (533mm) Range: 100+nm Guidance: ballistic, terminal acoustic homing w/Mk 50 torp Warhead: Mark 50 torpedo