Семья российских торпед калибра 53 см

Family of Russian weapon systems

Type 53 is the common name for a family of 53 cm (21 inch) torpedoes manufactured in Russia, starting with the 53 27 torpedo and continuing to the modern UGST (Fizik 1), which is being replaced by the Futlyar. With the exception of the UGST which uses Mark 48 style monopropellants, Soviet 53 cm torpedoes generally use electric power (since middle of World War II), or kerosene mixed with various oxidizers for propulsion. Russian torpedoes are often named descriptively for their characteristics – examples include "acoustic homing" or "electric torpedo", all in Russian acronyms.

Model 53 27 (1927) with of TNT was developed domestically in the so called , and it had a poor range at In 1932 USSR bought in Italy several types of torpedoes, and the model of Whitehead plant in Fiume (in the Soviet Union it was designated 53F) was considered superior. After adapting several features from the latter in unsuccessful 53 36 the decision was made to copy 53F. Resulting 53 38 (3 speed regimes, range up to , of trotyl in warhead) was later upgraded to 53 38U ( of TNT, roughly the same characteristics) and then redesigned in 53 39 (, up to ), considered to be one of the fastest in the world at the time (another were secret Japanese oxygen torpedoes and the Italian Siluro Tipo W. 270/533, 4 × 7,20 Veloce).

The 53 38/53 38U, which had entered service in 1938–1939, were the main Soviet torpedoes in World War II; they proved to be fairly reliable and effective. The two deadliest sinkings in history (the German 25,484 ton military transport and the troop transport ) were performed by two Soviet submarines using 53 38s on 30 January and 16 April 1945; both ships were hit on first attempt and sank within minutes in despite of difficult visibility conditions and the presence of escorts. Notably, all three torpedoes launched against Wilhelm Gustloff hit and exploded with catastrophic results, not a common feat in those times and conditions. Another notable sinking with 53 38/53 38Us was the 14,660 ton During the Black Sea campaigns (1941–44), Soviet submarines sank at least 29,000 tons of enemy shipping, mostly using mines, shellfire and 53 38 torpedoes. The new 53 39 (entering service in 1941) was very fast and effective but only available in limited numbers, while the ET 80 (1942–1943) was the first Soviet electric torpedo and crews did not trust it because of its teething and rushed induction problems.

The first Soviet torpedo with passive homing capability was the SAET 50 (1950), which was an anti ship weapon used on submarines. The 53 61 was the first Soviet homing torpedo to exceed 40 knots. The 53 65 torpedo family are Russian made, wake homing torpedoes designed to destroy surface ships. The 53 65 became operational in 1965, while the 53 65K and 53 65M both became operational in 1969. The 53 65KE is an exported version. China received an unknown number of 53 65KE torpedoes from Russia after purchasing four s in the 1990s. The Type 53 torpedo is carried by almost all Russian submarines, including the Kilo class and the
The Type 53 65 torpedo is considered a significant threat by the United States Navy because they do not respond to usual torpedo countermeasures; typical torpedo countermeasures are decoys that use noise to distract homing torpedoes, analogous to an aircraft's flare or chaff systems, but the Type 53 65 uses sensors that follows the wake of a moving ship, snaking through the ship's trail until impacting it, from up to away. The threat of wake homing torpedoes influenced the U. S. Navy to develop the Surface Ship Torpedo Defense (SSTD) system that employs a maneuvering Countermeasure Anti Torpedo (CAT) that seeks and intercepts an incoming torpedo.

The last entry in the class is the UGST (Fizik 1) heavy deepwater torpedo with a range of up to (export versions are limited to 40 km). It differs from most previous Soviet and Russian torpedoes in that unlike the previously dominant electric or peroxide propulsion, it uses the Otto fuel axial engine, which allows it to have much extended range while keeping the speeds of up to 65 knots. It also features an updated homing system, which, in addition to the traditional passive wake homing, features a phased array active sonar and an improved wire guidance system: previous Soviet torpedoes had the guidance wire spool in the torpedo body, with the wire released through the hollow propeller shaft, which had the disadvantage of the wire being prone to breakage, while the UGST has the wire release port on the side. Together with the towed extender spool, kept in the calmer portion of the wake, this makes the wire much more durable than before, though not as durable as the tube mounted spool (not used by the Soviets/Russian Navy as it interferes with the automatic reload systems). It was supposed to enter service in the 1990s, but the teething problems and the lack of funding during that period made the deployment sluggish, and it entered the widespread service only in the 2015 by the Fizik name, being quickly replaced by the new generation Futlyar (Fizik 2). Sources refer to them as heat seeking torpedoes.