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Sailors load a Harpoon anti-ship missile aboard the USS Olympia. WASHINGTON: With an eye on China, the Navy will begin arming its attack submarines with ship-killer missiles for the first time in decades. The weapon of choice: an updated model of the decades-old Harpoon. In a little-noticed announcement posted earlier this month on a government contracting site, the Navy said it was entering into negotiations with Boeing to refurbish and recertify Harpoon anti-ship missiles for Los Angeles-class subs. It’s a major shift after decades in which submarines focused on projecting power ashore — stealthily collecting intelligence or launching Tomahawk Land-Attack...

Ground and sea launches are accomplished with a jettisonable rocket booster. After firing, the Neptun deploys fold-out wings. (Photo: RNBO) UkrOboronProm (UOP), the head organization of the Ukrainian defense industry companies, has announced that the country has successfully conducted a trial launch of the new Neptun cruise missile. Developed by the lead contractor, the State Kiev Design Bureau "Luch," the cruise missile hit a maritime target at a distance of 100 km (62 miles). The principal supporting contractors are Motor Sich (engine), Radioniks (guidance), and the Kharkiv Aviation Factory (airframe). “We continue to strengthen the defense capabilities of our armed...

Sailors load a Harpoon anti-ship cruise missile on to the Los Angeles-class fast-attack submarine USS Olympia (SSN-717) on July 3, 2018. US Navy Photo JOINT BASE PEARL HARBOR-HICKAM – The Navy may once again arm its attack submarines with the Harpoon anti-ship cruise missile, after a sub-launched Harpoon performed well during a sinking exercise this month in the biennial Rim of the Pacific (RIMPAC) 2018 exercise. Los Angeles-class attack submarine USS Olympia (SSN-717) fired a Harpoon at the ex-USS Racine (LST-1191) during the first of two SINKEX events in RIMPAC this month. That shot marked the first time a Harpoon...

Saab has launched the next generation of its formidable RBS15 anti-ship missile series for international sale, with a little help from Norse mythology. Unveiling its latest evolution of the strike weapon at the Farnborough air show, the Swedish manufacturer is offering the product under the "Gungnir" family banner. This name refers to the spear of the god Odin – which was unstoppable and never missed its target, the company says. Developed in partnership with Diehl Defence, the latest evolution of the long-range weapon, more formally designated the RBS15 Mk4 Air, is for future integration with Saab's Gripen E. Sweden's FMV...

As part of the many unique evolutions during the Navy's giant, biannual, multi-national naval exercise known as Rim Of The Pacific or RIMPAC, a U.S. Navy nuclear fast attack submarine will be fire a live UGM-84 Harpoon anti-ship missile at a target in the waters off of Hawaii. What's interesting is that Harpoon missiles were stripped from American submarines over 20 years ago, but the standoff range and flexibility that anti-ship missiles provide are once again becoming in-demand capability for America's submarine force and its surface fleet as well. The U.S. Navy posted shots of a UGM-84 being loaded onto...

Hamina Class FAC in Finnish Navy service. Finland has selected Israel’s Advanced Naval Attack Missile to replace its current MTO85M system, a derivative of Swedish RBS15 that will reach the end of its life cycle in the 2020s. IAI’s Gabriel has beaten four other competitors evaluated by Finland’s MOD, including Kongsberg’s NSM, MBDA’s Exocet, Boeing’s Harpoon and Saab’s RBS15. IAI Gabriel 5 Advanced Naval Attack Missile is heading to Finland next year, replacing RBS15 on the Hamina-class missile boats and future Squadron 2020 corvettes. Image: IAI The selection of Israel’s Advanced Naval Attack Missile marks an important achievement for IAI,...

China's relentless cyber espionage campaign against the Pentagon has been one of the central reasons why that country's technological warfighting capabilities have aggressively matured over a relatively short period of time. In fact, we now see the fruits of their hacking operations on a daily basis via advanced 'indigenous' weapon systems, some which are now entering into operational service. But a previously unreported intrusion into a Navy contractor's computer network has provided the Chinese military with information on the service's electronic warfare and threat library, cryptographic radio systems used on submarines, specific sensor data, and detailed information on a previously...

The U.S. Navy has awarded its long-awaited Over-the-Horizon Weapon Systems contract to Raytheon, which had joined together with Norwegian defense contractor Kongsberg to offer the Naval Strike Missile, or NSM. The service sees the weapon as an important anti-ship and land-attack weapon capability for the Littoral Combat Ship and its future frigates, but the selection could also pave the way for adding the missiles to other types of ships and for other services to acquire air- and ground-launched versions. The Pentagon included the fixed-price deal, valued at more than $14.8 million, in its daily contracting announcement notice for May 31,...

Russia's most powerful surface combatant, the nuclear powered Kirov class battlecruiser Pyotr Veliky (Peter the Great), is a fascinating vessel to say the least. The ship is the manifestation of the Soviet Union's top naval weapons technology during the waning years of the Cold War. You can read all about it in this past profile I did on the class. Although she has received some light upgrades in recent years, Pyotr Veliky will be leaving the fleet in the next couple of years to undergo a deep refit. Her long mothballed sister ship, the Admiral Nakhimov, is finishing a similar...

Perseus, an earlier concept missile Royal Navy ships will lose anti-ship missile capability in 2018 when the Harpoon missile is withdrawn with a replacement not due until ‘around 2030’. We reported today, incorrectly, that the new frigates would more than likely have anti-ship weapons ordered to fill this gap before they enter service. We were mistaken and have since amended earlier articles to reflect what is written in this article. While the Royal Navy will still have an anti-ship capability via the submarine fleet and embarked helicopters, this will still be a significant capability gap and even then, no Royal...

Japan's Acquisition Technology and Logistics Agency (ATLA) released for the first time footage showing the XASM-3 supersonic anti-ship missile during a test launch. ATLA is a branch of Japan's MoD created in 2015 to "ensure technological superiority and respond to operational needs smoothly and quickly". Screen capture from the ATLA video showing the XASM-3 launch. It was recently reported that the missile will enter mass production in 2018 and be officially introduced with the Japan Air Self-Defense Force (JASDF), it will then be called ASM-3. According to the Japanese MoD, aerodynamic and captive carry tests on F-2 fighters had been...

It’s a big day for the 2,500-pound Long-Range Anti-Ship Missile, LRASM. This morning, contractor Lockheed Martin announced an $86.5 million contract to build the first 23 production missiles – as opposed to test weapons – for use by Navy Super Hornet fighters and Air Force B-1B bombers. Lockheed also announce this afternoon that it had, for the first time, successfully test-fired a modified LRASM from the kind of launchers used on Navy ships. Ship-borne launchers dramatically expand the ways the US military can use the missile. LRASM has come a long way from its origins in the air-to-ground JASSM program...

The news that China is working on an anti-ship drone-missile hybrid of sorts has been bouncing around social media as of late, after a photo and details about the weapon surfaced recently. The system is centered around a wing-in-ground-effect optimized airframe—a concept made famous by the Soviet Union's enigmatic Ekranoplans, and in particular, the giant Caspian Sea Monster. Ground effect craft can efficiently skim very low over the ground at high speeds by leveraging the decreased drag and increased lift that occurs as a result of an aircraft's wings interacting with the air directly above the planet's surface. Although some...

Russia's new Sukhoi T-50 PAK-FA fighter jet has just been given another ability – the means to destroy surface warships. Sputnik spoke to military expert Andrei Golovatyuk to find out whether it's now appropriate to add 'ship slayer' to the fifth-generation aircraft's list of capabilities. On Wednesday, Russia's Izvestia newspaper reported that the Kh-35UE tactical cruise missile, an upgrade of the Kh-35 jet-launched subsonic anti-ship missile, has been incorporated into the Sukhoi T-50's array of potential armaments. The weapon, capable of targeting and destroying everything from landing craft to aircraft carriers, as well as ground targets, including hard points, warehouses...

An artist’s representation of a Harpoon Anti-Ship Missile. Boeing Image Boeing is no longer offering an upgraded variant of its RGM-84 Harpoon anti-ship cruise missile as part of a competition to field an over-the-horizon anti-ship missile for the frigate and the Littoral Combat Ship, a company official told USNI News on Tuesday. “We’ve really taken a hard look at what the requirements are that [Naval Sea System Command] has looked for in the request. We’ve kept up to speed on every [request for proposal] modification and with that the constant change in the top-level requirements every time they do a...

At the Navy League’s Sea-Air-Space 2017 exposition currently held near Washington D.C., Austal USA rolled out an updated LCS Frigate design called the "Austal Frigate". The main modifications consist in a slightly shortened flight deck in order to fit anti-ship missile launchers and a variable depth sonar in order to add capabilities to the ship's aft. The new Austal Frigate features a redesigned stern to add capabilities to the ship's aft. According to Austal USA, the Austal Frigate possesses increased lethality and high-speed shallow draft multi-mission combatant capabilities on a seaframe nearly identical to the Independence-class Littoral Combat Ship. This...

ARLINGTON, Va. — The extended-range (ER) Block II+ version of Boeing’s AGM-84 Harpoon anti-ship cruise missile will be fired in test shots this year, a Boeing official said. The Block II+ER features an upgraded fuel system and a better warhead that enable it to achieve twice the range — at least 130 nautical miles — of a Block 1C version, the missile currently in the operational inventory. The upgrades fit inside the existing missile airframe, allowing the Navy to avoid the cost of more separation testing. The existing Block 1C missiles can be upgraded to the Block II+ER configuration. Troy...

The modernization of the Russian armed forces has taken another step forward with the delivery in 2016 of the first shipments of the modern multipurpose Su-30SM fighters. In the spring a squadron of eight planes was deployed to the Black Sea Fleet in Crimea while in the fall two planes were added to the fighter air regiment in the Rostov Region. Recently, a group of Su-30SMs was sent to a separate Russian Fleet attack air regiment in the country's north. In 2017 the fighters will also be delivered to Russia's naval aviation in the Baltics and by 2018 the Aerospace...

The 380 crew of a US warship ­attacked by rebels off the coast of Yemen may have been saved from death or injury by a world-beating missile defence system developed in Australia. The guided missile destroyer USS Mason was operating in the Red Sea about 12 nautical miles off the coast of Yemen on October 9, when it was fired on by Houthi rebels believed to have used two land-based anti-ship cruise ­missiles. A week earlier, a similar attack by the Iranian-backed Houthis badly damaged a fast, twin-hulled vessel leased by the United Arab Emirates to transport troops and help...

The Swedish Armed Forces (Försvarsmakten) announced today that land-based coastal defence batteries are on their way back. By reintroducing them, the Swedish Navy will be able to launch Saab-made RBS15 anti-ship missiles from the country's coastlines against targets at sea at great distances. The Swedish Navy test firing a RBS15 anti-ship missile from the re-introduced coastal battery The coastal batteries will be deployed by the Swedish Navy. They are being re-created through the use of former decommissioned coastal missile batteries (launcher vehicles) as well as from missiles and launchers taken from decommissioned missile boats and corvettes. The system is based...