Given the importance paid to each nation’s navy, countermeasures were developed to destroy any ship that might pose a danger. One of the most feared of these countermeasures was the Harpoon anti-ship missile.
Fast-forward a quarter century and the US is still using the Harpoon, however, the once-feared ammunition has been rendered vulnerable by a number of advances in radar and intercept technology. With a “pivot to the Pacific” driving the US’s long term security strategy a renewed focus on Naval assets has emerged. Critical to that strategy is a new anti-ship missile unlike any weapon system ever seen before.
Called the Long Range Anti-Ship Missile (LRASM), this new cruise missile looks, at first glance, more plane than explosive. Thanks to its stealthy frame, and the high-profile proliferation of drones, one could be excused for confusing the two. Much like a drone, the LRASM is built to not only deliver a deadly strike but also to act as a sophisticated communication tool. Armed with advanced AI and a passive radio and threat-warning monitor, the LRASM can travel through a battlefield at high-subsonic speeds, correcting its course along the way. With an onboard GPS linked to a suite of other sensors the missile can also pinpoint enemy intercept stations and send coordinates back to aircraft patrolling an area. With those coordinates in hand, the US can construct a map of an enemy’s electronic countermeasures and better prepare for future missions.
To add an even scarier element to the LRASM’s communication arsenal, engineers have also built the missile to be capable of communicating with other LRASMs. With this hive-mind like capability the missiles can independently devise a strategy for attack that best ensures enemy targets are eliminated.
According to Lockheed sources, the LRASM is capable of striking a target at a several hundred-mile range, with the possibility of extending the system’s reach to 1,000 miles. With the ability to deliver a 1000 lb payload into the interior of an enemy hull, it seems that the LRASM has taken the drone concept and improved it. The only downside of the system seems to be its incredibly short lifespan.
Image and Video Courtesy of Lockheed Martin