I am merely posting information which is readily available on the www and asking why. What are the drivers for high level ASW. There is little threat from subs themselves. Trials during the 80s proved that the concept of firing a SAN from a submerged vessel was flawed. In the littoral being low is more of an advantage (RFI being a major issue these days) Being able to drive your weapon to the ISP I can see the benefit of that, but a good system should allow you to do that anyway (SRS/ GPS enabled buoys and a good Nav system negates the need for on tops).