Lockheed Martin has conducted 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.
LRASM is a precision-guided anti-ship missile that leverages the successful JASSM-ER heritage, and is designed to meet the needs of US Navy and Air Force warfighters in a robust anti-access / area-denial threat environment. The air-launched variant provides an early operational capability for the Navy’s offensive anti-surface warfare Increment I requirement to be integrated onboard the USAF’s B-1B in 2018 and on the Navy’s F/A-18E/F Super Hornet in 2019.
This was the third successful surface-launched LRASM test, proving the missile’s ability to load mission data using the modified Tactical Tomahawk Weapon Control System (TTWCS+), align mission data with the moving ship and launch from the Mk41 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 en route to its predetermined endpoint.
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 US Navy’s need for new anti-surface warfare capabilities as part of the ‘distributed lethality’ concept. This LRASM flight test from a US Navy surface ship VLS highlights the successful collaboration between Lockheed Martin and the Navy.”
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