US allows sale of $82 million Harpoon Joint Common Test Sets to India.

According to information published by the Defense Security Cooperation Agency on August 2, 2021, the State Department has made a determination approving a possible Foreign Military Sale to the Government of India of Harpoon Joint Common Test Set (JCTS) and related equipment for an estimated cost of $82 million. The Defense Security Cooperation Agency delivered the required certification notifying Congress of this possible sale.
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Artist rendering of Harpoon Block II missile (Picture source: Boeing)

The Government of India has requested to buy one Harpoon Joint Common Test Set (JCTS). Also included is one Harpoon Intermediate Level maintenance station; spare and repair parts, support, and test equipment; publications and technical documentation; personnel training; U.S. Government and contractor technical, engineering, and logistics support services; and other related elements of logistics and program support. The estimated total cost is $82 million.

The principal contractor will be The Boeing Company, St. Louis, MO.

The RGM-84 Harpoon is a ship-launched, all-weather, over-the-horizon, anti-ship missile. Its low-level, sea-skimming cruise trajectory, active radar guidance and warhead design assure high survivability and effectiveness.

Harpoon Block II expands the capabilities of the Harpoon anti-ship weapon. Harpoon Block II is capable of executing both anti-ship and land-strike missions.

To strike targets on land and ships in port, the missile uses GPS-aided inertial navigation to hit a designated target aimpoint. The 227 kilogram blast warhead delivers lethal firepower against a wide variety of land-based targets, including coastal defense sites, surface-to-air missile sites, exposed aircraft, port/industrial facilities and ships in port.

For conventional anti-ship missions, such as open-ocean and near-land, the GPS/INS eliminates midcourse guidance errors en route to the target area. The accurate navigation solution coupled with launch system improvements combine to offer better discrimination of target ships from islands, nearby land masses or other ships. These Block II improvements maintain Harpoon’s high hit probability against ships very close to land or traveling in congested sea lanes.