The biggest complaint against the LCS is that it isn't a proper warship. Its fast, but underarmed, under crewed and unable to take the fight to the enemy.
The more I look at the Harpoon missile system the more I'm convinced that it needs to be included in the weapons suite of the LCS.
In its standard form and its Stand off Land Attack Missile variant it would prove to be a game changer for the program. Additionally with its light weight launch system it could easily fit on board the ship without compromising it in the slightest.
Read more about the Harpoon missile here, here and here.
NOTE:
If this missile system can be truck mounted then surely we can fit it aboard a 3000 ton warship!
UPDATE:
Tom informed me of a unique Australian solution to getting the Harpoon missile system aboard their Oliver Perry class frigates. Even though the forward vertical launch cells are shallow, they simply allow the enclosure to protrude above deck. Outstanding. Now we can save development money for a missile for LCS and simply fill them with either Harpoon or SLAM-ER for use against warships or land targets.
This problem is solved. Now if the Navy would get its head out of its rear end and implement it, we can move on to more pressing issues. My bill is in the mail.
The General Dynamics International/Multi Mission version of the LCS-2 proposes to place 2 quad Harpoon launchers on the foredeck behind the space originally allocated for the NetFire missiles.
ReplyDeleteSee: http://www.gdlcs.com/gd-lcs-solution/international-variant
Further comment about the 3 spaces for N-LOS missiles.
ReplyDeleteOne criticism regarding the spaces is the relative lack of depth (aka space). However, one possible solution would be to follow the design used to provide supplementary ESSM VLS's on Oliver Hazard Perry-based FFG's.
Specifically, the new ESSM VLS's actually protrude from the deck of the FFG's. This style of installation could address the relative lack of depth in the existing N-LOS 'wells' on the LCS's.
See the following link for a photo of the ESSM VLS on the RAN FFG's: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:HMAS_Sydney_1702120425.jpg
IIRC, some of the blogs at the right sidebar recently commented on the cost of the FFG mods required for that. I'm not sure if that would be the best option instead of GDs proposal.
ReplyDeleteAlso... What's the crew necessary for them?
Ferran
A real world issue is that Harpoon isn't designed for Littoral use: it's got far more range than necessary and is too big and expensive for a lot of littoral targets. As you point out, it's available now and I'm in favor of it for giving the ships more general purpose usefulness but there are very good reasons to get a smaller, cheaper missile on board too. NLOS really was a good fit for the LCS; one of the few things I think they got right in the original design.
ReplyDeleteAs I said in the other Harpoon thread though, I don't think the Navy wants these ships to have any real surface to surface or anti-air capability. There is a deep seated fear in the DoD that any low mix weapon system that is allowed to become too capable will threaten the high mix systems, all of which are in various stages of the death spiral. Thus the USN has a very big interest in keeping the LCS helpless against anything but mines and submarines.
Foreign navies, of course, do not share this concern (since for them something LCS sized is their high mix) so of course export variants are going to be better armed. A quick comparison of the LCS vs. the Israeli SAAR V class, built in the US by Northrop Grumman, is all you need to see how far the USN has gone to keep meaningful surface to surface and surface to air firepower off of the LCS.
BB1984, you have it right. The Harpoon is not an easy fit onto either class of LCS. Not to mention the change order money which is NOT going to happen.
ReplyDeleteOf course, there are several other missiles to provide for ship defenese and short range (anti-boat) attacks. The USN needs to look at how other navies installed less costly missiles on corvettes. BUT bottom line is USN is not all that interested in littoral force on force fighting~