Tuesday, December 18, 2018

Moving Forward to What Threat?

The surface-to-surface missile module for the LCS is moving forward:

In a major milestone for the program, Navy officials expect to complete testing and evaluation of the littoral combat ship Surface-to-Surface Missile Module early next year, two months ahead of schedule.

This week’s announcement was a positive step for LCS mission module programs, which have have been plagued with development delays and certification snafus. ...

They were testing how well the package could counter swarms of small boats and boost a vessel’s visit, board, search and seizure capabilities.

But remember this equips the ship with the Hellfire missile which, while long range for the Army is a short range missile for the Navy. The new missile module is meant for attacking small boat swarms rather than battling enemy ships that will outrange the Hellfire easily.

I'm hoping that rather than being "the" SSM module it will be just one of them, which will include longer-ranged missiles. Harpoon should just be a start on that family of SSM modules.

Also, isn't this Hellfire module made for a mission close to shores that is insane to carry out? I mean, I thought the Pentagon admitted the too expensive and too vulnerable LCS shouldn't be in those green and brown littoral waters.

Isn't the Hellfire module intended to carry out a mission that the Navy won't send the LCS to accomplish?