Free Republic

SwedenÂ’s Saab aerospace and defense company has unveiled its first conventional diesel-electric-powered submarine designed for using the Tomahawk Land Attack Missile (TLAM). The model was demonstrated at the IMDEX Asia 2017 show in Singapore. SwedenÂ’s Saab has displayed a model of its A26 conventional diesel-electric-powered submarine (SSK) which has been designed with the Tomahawk Land Attack Missile capability (TLAM). The model was demonstrated at the IMDEX Asia 2017 maritime defense exhibition and conference, which wrapped up in Singapore on Thursday. This is the first time when a conventional submarine will carry the subsonic cruise missiles, according to Shephard Media website,...

WARSHIPS MISFIRE New fleet of £8bn Royal Navy warships to be fitted with launchers that CANNOT fire British missiles A FLEET of new Royal Navy warships costing £8billion is being fitted with missile launchers that cannot fire British missiles, it emerged yesterday. The Type 26 Global Combat frigates have been designed with an American missile system for which the navy has no ammo. Critics say it will cost a fortune to buy new Tomahawk missiles which can be used with the MK-41 silos – and cast doubt on whether it will happen at all. The Ministry of Defence’s £178billion ten-year...

PORTSMOUTH, Va. — The Navy and the Marine Corps are studying installing a vertical launch system in its San Antonio class of amphibious warships that would allow the ships to field larger offensive missiles, service officials told USNI News this week. The director of expeditionary warfare in the chief of naval operation’s office (OPNAV N95) told USNI News on Thursday both services were studying installing the VLS systems but that at the moment there was no program of record to back fit the capability into the hulls. “It’s certainly an asset we’d like to have,” Marine Maj. Gen. Chris Owens...

The recent (and very low profile) announcement by the U.S. Department of Defense of a Foreign Military Sale (FMS) of MK 41 Vertical Launching Systems (VLS) to Saudi Arabia could possibly be an indication of the procurement of Littoral Combat Ships or DDG-51 type (Burke class) Destroyers by the Royal Saudi Navy. Here is Navy Recognition's take on it. On December 12, 2014, the U.S. Department of Defense announced the following contract award: Lockheed Martin Corp., Mission Systems and Training, Baltimore, Maryland, is being awarded a $235,329,189 firm-fixed-price contract for MK 41 Vertical Launching System (VLS) electronic and mechanical modules...

[Exclusive] Vertical launching system for attack subs developed A 1,800-ton Type-214 submarine of the South Korean Navy sails in waters off Busan. The diesel-electric sub was built by Hyundai Heavy Industries with technical cooperation from HDW of Germany. After 2018 South Korea plans to build 3,000-ton heavy attack submarines equipped with vertical launching systems that allow a variety of weapons, including long-range cruise missiles, to be deployed. / Courtesy of ROK Navy By Jung Sung-ki Korea has developed a vertical launching system (VLS) to be installed on 3,000-ton heavy attack submarines to be deployed after 2018, according to a shipbuilding...

As the venerable Tomahawk missile becomes too vulnerable for certain targets, naval observers have wondered why the Navy isn’t racing to fill the U.S. surface fleet’s 7,804 Vertical Launch System (VLS) cells with a new generation of anti-ship or fast land-attack munitions. Our wait is over. The big brains at DARPA are aiming to appropriate VLS cells for the Prompt Global Strike Mission. Meet ArcLight–the weapon that will change the way the world thinks about U.S. surface combatants: “The ArcLight program will design, build, and flight test a long range (> 2,000 nm) vehicle that carries a 100–200 lb payload(s)....

In a high-threat environment, the Navy’s AEGIS vessels have a problem. They cannot be re-armed. AEGIS cruisers have 122 vertical launch system (VLS) cells, while the destroyers have 96. Each magazine is “multi-use,” composed of specialized land attack and self-defense weapons, so a desired missile may not be available in sufficient numbers. Complicating matters, AEGIS vessels sometimes sail with a partially-filled magazines, and missile reliability rates aren’t often anywhere near 100%. CSBA expert Jan Van Tol, in his recent AirSea Battle monograph ,is the latest to highlight this vulnerability, and pointedly suggests that, given the way high-end warfare is likely...

L&T, Lockheed in JV talks for developing Mark 41 Vertical Launching Systems 23 Jan, 2008, 0000 hrs IST, Mayur Shekhar Jha, TNN WASHINGTON: India’s defence shield is getting sharper. US arms major Lockheed Martin is in talks with engineering and construction firm Larsen & Toubro (L&T) for formalising a joint venture (JV), which would jointly develop Mark 41 Vertical Launching Systems (MK 41 VLS) in India. “Co-developing MK 41 VLS will be a further extension of our existing relationship with L&T. As of now, talks are at a very initial stage,” a senior Lockheed Martin official told ET. The MK...