Posted on 01/13/2017 4:58:18 AM PST by sukhoi-30mki
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 Rutherford, Boeing’s director of cruise missile systems, told Seapower Jan. 10 that the net-enabled Block II+ will be making its final Operational Test shots this year in preparation for deployment on the Navy’s F/A-18 and P-8A Increment III version of the Poseidon maritime patrol aircraft. Initial operational capability of the Block II+ is planned for mid-year.
As a net-enabled weapon with a jam-resistant Global Positioning System capability and capacity to receive target updates in real time via Link 16, the Block II+ can be tied into the Navy Integrated Fire Control-Counter Air architecture, Rutherford said, and give the Navy more distributed lethality, one of the surface fleet’s top priorities. The all-weather radar seeker has a sensitivity 10 times that of the Block 1C
Boeing expects to offer the Block II+ER as a solution to the Navy’s Over-the-Horizon (OTH) requirement for a cruise missile for the littoral combat ship and the follow-on frigate.
“We’re at a cost advantage,” Rutherford said, noting the fleet’s familiarity with the Harpoon and is launch system and the integration with platforms that already has occurred with the Harpoon program.
The Navy plans to order 340 OTH missiles of the winning design, with deliveries beginning two years after contract award. Rutherford noted that on the surface side, there is no requirement for a net-enabled missile, but the Harpoon Block II+ER will have it anyway.
Rutherford said there is a lot of interest in the extended-range capability from foreign nations that already deploy the Harpoon.
Who needs hackers when you leak like a sieve!
“Boeing’s AGM-84 Harpoon anti-ship cruise missile will be fired in test shots this year, a Boeing official said.”
Is there really much demand for anti-cruise ship missiles?
I’m sure nothing that wasn’t already known was leaked by Boeing in this article.
Ever been on a Carnival Cruise ship?
INDIA has hypersonic ASM’s while the USA has not..?
Nope.
That would make for some extremely exciting episodes of The Love Boat, I believe.
Yeah, that dwarf really would have something to sue about then.
If you had then you would understand why an anti-cruise ship missile is necessary.
That’s practically all that China is banking on.
SWARMS of cruise missiles targeting US fleets and carriers.
How else are you going to take out ships?
Risk a billion dollar sub?
“Who needs hackers when you leak like a sieve! “
Any release like this one are run through the military first. The stuff that is secret varies from system to system and tends to center on exact capabilities rather than the existence of the weapon. The reasons the military okays the release vary. But the bid package was open information so anybody can go look it up. It would say something like, The US Navy wants an extended version of the Harpoon which will exceed X miles at Y velocity with no decrease in accuracy.
The contractor wants everybody to know they are producing the weapon. They want in ensure the funding doesn’t get cut and that their Congress critters know how many jobs are involved. The Navy is telling the world that it has the weapon and Congress that it needs the weapon. When it comes to political support secrecy is not good.
Weapons that are truly secret are protected much better. The SR-71 was such a secret that after the first one flew over the Soviet Union it was like kicking over an ant pile. A defector later told the US interviewer that the Kremlin, having never seen a vehicle at that height and speed thought it was an alien space ship.
So, the military can keep secrets. But Democratic presidents can’t. Carter couldn’t bear the criticism for cancelling the B1 so he revealed the existence of the stealth bomber years before it was built and gave the world a decade running start at figuring out how to counter it.
So, when are they going to come up with a Mach 3 version so it arrives in a timely fashion and has a better chance of getting through defenses?
Re-read the post.
LOL.
Sorry.
Now I understand the “Carnival Cruise” comments.
I’ll have another cup of coffee and STFU.
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