U.S. Navy New ASM Development

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Naval Today said:

The Navy, Air Force and Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) completed a successful test of the Long-Range Anti-Ship Missile (LRASM) Feb. 4, marking a significant step in maturing key technologies for the future operational weapon system.

The joint-service team, known as the LRASM Deployment Office (LDO), conducted the test to evaluate LRASM’s low-altitude performance and obstacle avoidance as part of the program’s accelerated development effort.

During the flight from the Sea Test Range in Point Mugu, California, the B-1 Bomber released the LRASM, which navigated a series of pre-planned waypoints to verify aerodynamic performance. In the final portion of the flight the missile detected, tracked and avoided an object that was deliberately placed in the flight pattern to demonstrate its obstacle avoidance algorithms.

The LDO and industry partner Lockheed Martin are developing LRASM as an air-launched offensive anti-surface warfare weapon to counter the growing maritime threats in an Anti-Access/Area Denial (A2/AD) environment. When operational, LRASM will play a significant role in ensuring military access to operate in open ocean/blue waters and the littorals due to its enhanced ability to discriminate and conduct tactical engagements from extended ranges.

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Jeff Head said:

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Even though this was US Air Force test, it is a part of a joint-service command, and points to how US Military services are coming along rapidly with the LRASM.

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Naval Today said:

The U.S. Navy and Raytheon Company conducted two successful flight tests on Jan. 27 and 29.

The first flight test demonstrated a Tomahawk cruise missile which was synthetically guided to hit a Mobile Ship Target (MST). The second flight test demonstrated a reduced mission planning time in a realistic “call for fire” scenario.

Mike Jarrett, Raytheon Air Warfare Systems vice president, said:

"The combat-proven Tomahawk is unmatched in its capability. Raytheon and the U.S. Navy are working together to enhance Tomahawk and provide the warfighter with even more options in the battlespace."

In the first test, a Tomahawk Block IV cruise missile fired from the destroyer USS Kidd (DDG 100) flew a pre-planned mission until a surveillance aircraft sent real-time target information to the Joint Network Enabled Weapons Mission Management Capability (JNEW-MMC) located at Naval Air Warfare Center – Weapons Division (NAWC-WD), China Lake. The JNEW-MMC provided updated data to the missile in flight before it successfully struck the MST. This demonstration is the first step toward evolving Tomahawk with improved network capability and extends its reach from fixed and mobile to moving targets.

This flight test was the culmination of a collaborative effort between the Naval Air Warfare Center Weapons Division at China Lake, Naval Surface Warfare Center, Port Hueneme Division and Raytheon Missile Systems.

In the second test, the USS Kidd (DDG 100) launched another Tomahawk Block IV missile on a “call-for-fire” mission in support of shore-based Marines staged on San Nicolas Island.
Using GPS navigational updates, the missile performed a vertical dive to impact on San Nicolas Island, scoring a direct hit on the target designated by the Marines. The test provided valuable data for the Marine Expeditionary Force to evaluate and evolve their call for fire capability.

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Jeff Head said:

Here's a report about a Tomahawk IV missile, the Tactical Tomahawk, test using it as a ASM.

Most of us suspected that with its new capabilities, it would be able to do this...now they have proven it:

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So they fired the missile, then as it flew, in real time they updated its targeting to hit a moving vessel at sea...which it then did.

GREAT stuff. In addition to showing that this is a GREAT anti-ship missile, it also demonstrates the network centric nature of its capabilities.

These are precisely the types of test you must perform to assure that the system is truly operational and capable of performing its role. Been saying that for years on these forums...and here's another example of real world experience demonstrating it.

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Sea Waves said:

The Long Range Anti-Ship Missile (LRASM) built by Lockheed Martin achieved a third successful air-launched flight test, with the missile performing as expected during low altitude flight.

The test, conducted on Feb. 4, was in support of the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA), U.S. Air Force and U.S. Navy joint-service LRASM program.

Flying over the Sea Range at Point Mugu, California, a U.S. Air Force B-1B bomber from the 337th Test and Evaluation Squadron at Dyess Air Force Base, Texas, released the LRASM prototype, which navigated through planned waypoints receiving in-flight targeting updates from the weapon data link.

"LRASM continues to prove its maturity and capabilities in this flight test program," said Mike Fleming, LRASM air launch program director at Lockheed Martin Missiles and Fire Control. "This much-needed weapon seeks to provide a new capability that would enable deep strike in previously denied battle environments."

LRASM is a precision-guided anti-ship standoff missile leveraging the successful Joint Air-to-Surface Standoff Missile Extended Range (JASSM-ER) heritage, and is designed to meet the needs of U.S. Navy and Air Force warfighters in a robust anti-access/area-denial threat environment. JASSM-ER, which recently completed its operational test program, provides a significant number of parts and assembly-process synergies with LRASM, resulting in cost savings for the U.S. Navy and Air Force Offensive Anti-Surface Warfare programs.

The tactically representative LRASM is built on the same award-winning production line in Pike County, Alabama, as JASSM-ER, demonstrating manufacturing and technology readiness levels sufficient to enter the engineering, manufacturing and development phase and to meet urgent operational needs.

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Naval Today said:

The U.S. Navy has recently carried out a successful controlled flight test of the Long Range Anti-Ship Missile (LRASM) surface-launch variant from the Self Defense Test Ship at Pt. Mugu Sea Range, California.

According to Lockheed Martin, the company responsible for integration and testing, the test proved the missile’s ability to load mission data using the modified tactical tomahawk weapon control system (TTWCS+) and align mission data with the moving ship and launch from the MK 41 Vertical Launch System (VLS).

During the test, LRASM exited the VLS launcher, cleanly separated from its Mk-114 booster and transitioned to the cruise phase. The missile successfully flew a pre-planned low-altitude profile collecting aerodynamics agility data while enroute to its pre-determined endpoint.

Earlier this year, in May 2016, the U.S. Navy awarded Lockheed Martin a $321.8 million sole-source contract to continue the Long Range Anti-Ship Missile (LRASM) integration and test phase.

Lockheed Martin said the company invested internal funds to support this test and provide an operational LRASM and to refurbish the Navy’s Self Defense Test Ship MK 41 VLS. This demonstration from a moving ship in a dynamic at-sea environment was a critical step in proving the maturity of the surface-launch variant.

LRASM was also tested successfully from a ground-based MK 41 VLS “Desert Ship” in 2013 and 2014. Integrating LRASM with the VLS will provide every Aegis destroyer and cruiser with a long-range, survivable anti-surface warfare distributed lethality capability.

Scott Callaway, LRASM Surface-Launch director at Lockheed Martin Missiles and Fire Control, said: “This successful flight test demonstrates Lockheed Martin’s readiness to answer the U.S. Navy’s need for new anti-surface warfare capabilities as part of the ‘distributed lethality’ concept,” said . “This LRASM flight test from a U.S. Navy surface ship VLS highlights the successful collaboration between Lockheed Martin and the U.S. Navy.”

The anti-ship missile is expected to become operational with the U.S. Air Force and Navy in 2018 and 2019 respectively.

LRASM is a precision-guided anti-ship standoff missile designed for an advanced anti-access/area-denial threat environment.

Armed with a 1,000-pound penetrator and blast-fragmentation warhead, LRASM employs a multi-mode sensor, weapon data link and an enhanced digital anti-jam Global Positioning System to detect and destroy specific targets within a group of ships.

The surface-launch LRASM variant was built on the same production line as JASSM, JASSM-ER and LRASM air-launch weapons, and delivers the same long-range, precision capability. With maturity of the MK 41 VLS integration demonstrated, Lockheed Martin will continue testing on other surface ship applications, including topside, deck-mounted launchers.

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