While other research teams promise to re-promise their promises, Lockheed Martin specialists have created the world's best anti-ship missile.
Without unnecessary hype and fantasies about unparalleled weapons. The Yankees make their own system, not paying attention to racing for supersonic and other extreme modes. They are focused on the essentials. Their goal is to create a universal missile with the ability to ship and airborne. Despite the lack of high-profile press statements, they seem to have managed to achieve some results.
Brief chronology of tests:
July 3, 2013 - The start of the throw tests. Checking the exit of the rocket from the transport and launch container in the UVP.
August 27, 2013 - The first LRASM launch from a B-1B bomber.
September 17, 2013 - the first “hot” launch from cell Mk.41
November 12, 2013 - A missile launched from a bomber hits a moving ship. The transfer of the flight mission to the LRASM was carried out after its separation from the carrier.
February 4, 2015 - during the next test launch, the rocket demonstrated its ability to fly at ultra-low altitudes with automatic obstacle avoidance.
Planned terms of acceptance into service:
Air Force option - 2018.
Option for the Navy - 2019.
What is LRASM? And why is this missile so dangerous? This will be discussed in this article.
Background
In the first decade of the twenty-first century, the fleet of the “potential enemy” fell into a trap that it set for itself. Due to the lack of an adequate naval rival, the BGM-109B TASM anti-ship missiles were withdrawn from the arsenal of cruisers and destroyers. Modification of the KR "Tomahawk", equipped with a radar homing head from the well-known anti-ship missile "Harpoon".
At present, the US Navy's anti-ship arsenal is limited to a small-sized Harpoon (launch weight ~ 700 kg, launch range 100 … 200 km, warhead 225 kg). Due to its design features, this missile cannot be launched from a silo type UVP. She needs a special inclined launcher, which not only takes up extra space, but also increases the ship's RCS. Modern destroyers go into service without it.
Aegis destroyer is completely devoid of anti-ship weapons!
Until recently, the Americans were not embarrassed by the absence of anti-ship missiles on their ships. After all, "Harpoon" can be launched from any aircraft of the naval aviation of the NATO countries. Aviation is the main strike force and "insurance policy" for the navy.
Everything changed with the advent of a new concept of using the IUD. From small and clumsy AUGs to compact and ubiquitous naval strike groups (KUG) of submarines and missile destroyers. Battle groups created for a permanent presence in strategically important areas of the ocean and for conducting hostilities in the coastal zone, in the face of strong opposition from the enemy. Often - without any possibility of covering them by friendly air forces.
There is no hope for help from the air. The surrounding waters are teeming with enemy ships.
“Bring back the rockets”! Ships must be able to fight a surface enemy
A paradoxical situation has developed. 84 missile cruisers and destroyers equipped with silo-type launchers. Eight thousand cells. And not a single anti-ship missile capable of being launched from UVP.
In 2009, the US Navy initiated a program to create a long-range "stealth" anti-ship missile system, designated LRASM.
Having received the task, the specialists of “Lockheed-Martin” estimated the dimensions of the Mk.41 launch cell and came to an interesting conclusion. The dimensions of the shipborne UVP are sufficient for storing and launching the JASSM cruise missile. It remained "just" to equip the CD with a radar seeker and add a starting accelerator from the ASROK rocket torpedo.
LRASM exit from the mine of the ship's UVP
An unusual approach made it possible to shorten the development time and reduce the cost of creating a new ammunition. While the "aviation past" automatically provided LRASM with an airborne capability.
LRASM is based on the "long-range" modification AGM-158 JASSM-Extended Range. This tactical cruise missile has a launch weight of about 1 ton and a range of 930 km. For the anti-ship LRASM, the values are more modest. According to the developers, the declared launch range of the new anti-ship missile system is “over 370 km”.
Why is this weapon dangerous?
Domestic warships carry only 8 (at best 16 … 20) anti-ship weapons, while the promising American LRASM can be included in the ammunition load of any cruiser or destroyer. in any quantity! US Navy destroyers have 90 launch cells each. Having loaded several dozen LRASMs into the UVP, they will be able to single-handedly destroy the fleet of any country in the world.
Massive and ubiquitous, they pose a threat in all directions at the same time. Hundreds of possible carriers. Expectation of an attack at any moment, from all points, in any situation.
On the technical side, LRASM has a number of serious advantages:
In terms of launch range, only super-heavy "Granites" and "Volcanoes" can be compared with it.
Warhead weight (450 kg). This is 1, 5 … 2 times more than any modern rocket!
Stealth technology, less visibility of anti-ship missiles for enemy detection systems.
Combined detection system consisting of an airborne radar and a thermal imager. To improve survival, LRASM is equipped with a radar radiation detector. Thanks to the presence of a two-way communication system, it became possible to correct the flight task after the rocket had separated from the carrier. Exit to the area of the intended location of the target is provided by an inertial navigation system, with the ability to determine the location using GPS data.
Created in the era of iPhones, the rocket will be smart enough to turn the LRASM into an even more formidable weapon. In addition to the basic skills for finding the enemy (flying "snake" or "in a spiral"), the new anti-ship missile system has advanced target identification capabilities. She keeps digital “portraits” of hundreds of ships and vessels in her memory. Programmed to destroy a cruiser or aircraft carrier, LRASM will be able to identify this object among other ships of the order and strike at it.
It is too early to talk about the possibility of exchanging information between flying missiles with the task of distributing targets. Such systems, like the notorious "artificial intelligence", are still only an attribute of science fiction.
Air based. LRASM should be carried by light deck Hornets and B-1B supersonic bombers. In the future, anti-ship ammunition will be included in the armament of the F-35.
Given that the LRASM is a modified JASSM, this will allow, if necessary, to use the anti-ship missile as a conventional cruise missile to engage ground targets.
Unification. Mass character. To be always and everywhere. This is the motto of this "baby".
Mentioning the low cost of LRASM would sound too naive. Any modern precision weapon costs insane means. However, here LRASM compares favorably with the multi-ton Onyx and Brahmos.
LRASM is a subsonic missile. This is the inevitable price to pay for the mass character and the possibility of its use by tactical fighters.
Doubts about the effectiveness of subsonic missiles are mostly biased. Even when shooting at maximum range, the LRASM flight time will not exceed 30 minutes. For the indicated half hour, the enemy ship will not go anywhere.
Fighting off a flock of subsonic missiles will be no easier than fighting off the supersonic Brahmos. As practice has shown, even today, low-flying subsonic anti-ship missiles continue to be extremely difficult targets.
Especially if the rocket is small in size and built taking into account the requirements of the stealth technology.
Unsuccessful target interception by cruiser "Chancellorsville" (2013). The low-altitude drone flew through the air defense system and rammed the superstructure. Despite the comic nature of the situation, it is worth admitting that where the Aegis failed, another ship would have even less chances. The absence of such incidents on the fleets of other states is explained by the banal absence of tests to intercept low-flying missiles. Due to the high cost of targets and the predictability of results
Epilogue
Masterpiece? Undoubtedly. The Yankees follow the path of the least technical risks, simultaneously squeezing the maximum where it is possible to achieve results without going beyond the existing design: the missile's flight range, warhead, electronics.
Contrary to the opinion about how the American defense concerns are engaged in "cutting the budget", the history of LRASM shows a completely opposite picture. Original technical solutions and hefty ingenuity allowed the engineers of "Lockheed Martin" in a short time to create a simple and massive rocket based on existing missile weapons.
