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Naval
Defense Industry News - USA |
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Lockheed Martin Successfully Completes LRASM Vertical Launch System
Tests
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Lockheed
Martin [NYSE: LMT] successfully completed MK 41 Vertical Launch System
(VLS) “push-through” testing of a simulated Long Range Anti-Ship
Missile (LRASM). Four consecutive tests verified that the simulated
LRASM can break or “push through” the MK 41 canister’s
forward cover without causing damage to the composite structure, air
data probe or coatings of the missile.
The testing was part of a Lockheed Martin-funded shipboard integration
effort to prove LRASM can successfully function as an Offensive Anti-Surface
Warfare (OASuW) weapon. The push-through testing is an important risk
reduction milestone critical to demonstrating LRASM’s surface
launch capability. |
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An LRASM launches from a VLS (Artist Impression)
(Picture: Lockheed Martin)
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LRASM
is an autonomous, 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.
“These test results verified that the LRASM vehicle can break
through the VLS cover without damage at realistic flight speeds,”
said Scott Callaway, LRASM surface launch program manager at Lockheed
Martin Missiles and Fire Control. “Lockheed Martin is investing
in the shipboard integration of LRASM and we are confident it will meet
all the requirements for the U.S. Navy.” |
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Lockheed Martin LRASM - Long Range Anti-Ship Missile (Artist Impression)
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The push-through
testing, as well as a successful missile-to-canister fit check and integrated
test of the weapon control system and VLS, significantly reduced risk
on the program. Lockheed Martin will fly a Boosted Test Vehicle (BTV)
version of LRASM from a MK 41VLS platform later this year, as well as
in two government-funded Controlled Test Vehicle flights in 2014.
Armed with a proven penetrator and blast-fragmentation warhead, LRASM
cruises autonomously, day or night, in all weather conditions. The missile
employs a multi-modal sensor, weapon data link and an enhanced digital
anti-jam Global Positioning System to detect and destroy specific targets
within a group of ships.
LRASM is in development with Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency
(DARPA) and the Office of Naval Research. Lockheed Martin’s offering
has both surface-launched and air-launched variants to prosecute sea-based
targets at significant standoff ranges. |
