Tomahawk may get ship-killer role

Arizona Daily Star ^ | 07.12.2009 | Enric Volante

[PapaBear3625]

I'm strictly a surface guy, but I have never heard of a Predator being outfitted with Harpoons, let alone two of the suckers! That would be a hell of a dramatic boost in their capabilities.

The Predator B (Reaper) is a bigger version of the original Predator. It has a payload capacity of 3000 lbs, and its two inner hardpoints that can handle 1500 pounds each. The air-launched Harpoon is 1144 lbs, so in theory the Reaper should be able to carry it. Whether they have compatible mountings is another story. I also don't know if the length would be an issue.

I personally think it would be rather interesting configuration.

[ASOC]

This caught my eye

the city’s (Tucson, Az) biggest employer

Tucson, a city of 535K, the metro area, over 1 Million.

How many Raytheon employers are there in Tucson?

There are approximately 11,000 Missile Systems employees in Tucson (snip)

Impressive, to say the least.

[Oztrich Boy]

Couldn’t a predator drone or any other launch platform, with a Hellfire missile, currently do the same thing?

You'd lose the launch platform well before the Hellfire was within range

[ROCKLOBSTER]

Thanks guys,

Good information all.

One more question in the name of current and low cost solutions:

Isn't the "bunker buster" bomb dropped from a very high altitude, is it a laser guided devise, and wouldn't they punch good sized holes in the bottom of a warship?

Would the ship be able to maneuver out of harms way once they were detected?

What aircraft can launch them?

[Non-Sequitur]

bump