The Mark 46 torpedo is the backbone of the United States Navy's lightweight anti-submarine warfare torpedo inventory and is the NATO standard.

These aerial torpedoes are designed to attack high-performance submarines.

The Mark 46 was initially developed as Research Torpedo Concept I (RETORC I), one of several weapons recommended for implementation by Project Nobska, a 1956 summer study on submarine warfare.

[3] For most variants there is also an inert REXTORP (recoverable exercise torpedo) version.

The Chinese Yu-7 torpedo is said to be based on the Mk 46 Mod 2.