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LRASM
LRASM
New anti-ship missile to proliferate in region BY ANDREW McLAUGHLIN
DEFENCE
A
ustralia has been approved by the US State Department to acquire the Lockheed Martin AGM158C long-range anti-ship missile (LRASM). The proposed deal for up to 200 LRASMs was announced on February 7 by the US Defense and Security Cooperation Agency (DSCA), and is valued at an estimated US$990m (A$1.49bn). If contracted, LRASM will meet the Project AIR 3023 Phase 1 enhanced maritime strike requirement to equip the RAAF’s Super Hornet, and possibly the Lockheed Martin F-35A and the Boeing P-8A Poseidon with an anti-ship missile. A typical Super Hornet LRASM loadout would be two missiles on wing stations, although the jet can carry four LRASMs if no external fuel tanks are carried. The F-35A is yet to be cleared to employ LRASM, but the US Navy plans to integrate it with the F-35C version and, despite the C model’s larger wingspan, much of the integration and stores release work should be transferrable to the F-35A if the RAAF decides to go down that road. The DSCA approval also includes 11 ATM-158C LRASM Telemetry Variants, DATM-158C LRASM Captive Air Training Missiles (CATM), as well as extensive technical and logistic support services. Telemetry missiles do not have a warhead, but can be fired against dummy or virtual targets to validate datalinks, sensor performance, and target discrimination. CATMs are not launched and do not have an engine or warhead, but can be integrated with an aircraft’s combat system to provide targeting and pre-launch training, and for aerodynamic test work.
The DSCA announcement came just a few weeks after the US Navy achieved an early operational capability (EOC) milestone of LRASM on the Boeing F/A-18E/F Super Hornet. Already cleared for service on the USAF B-1B Lancer in December 2018, the LRASM adds a new long-range anti-ship capability to the US Navy and possibly the RAAF, both of which currently rely on the AGM-84 Harpoon as their primary air-launched anti-ship missile. Based on the low-observable AGM-158A JASSM as operated by the USAF and RAAF, and its longer-range AGM-158B JASSMER derivative, the jet-powered LRASM has a range of more than 500km. It uses an advanced multi-mode sensor, datalinks, anti-jam GPS, and a ship recognition database to discriminate between adversaries and friendly or non-combatant vessels, and has a 1,000lb blast fragmentation warhead. “LRASM will play a significant role in ensuring military access to operate in the Pacific and in the littorals by providing a long-range surface warfare capability,” a US Navy spokesman told Navy News. Apart from AIR 3023 Phase1, LRASM is also a contender for the Project SEA 4100 Phase 1 program to equip the new Hobart class DDGs and Hunter class FFGs with a long-range surfacelaunched anti-ship missile. The US Navy is developing a ship-launched version of LRASM that can be employed from the Mk41 vertical launch system (VLS) as used on the Hobart class and slated for the Hunter class. The RAN is likely to also consider the KONGSBERG Naval Strike Missile (NSM), while the RAAF has also shown interest in the air-launched Joint Strike Missile (JSM) version of the NSM.
