The Future of Anti-Ship Missiles

After decades of rapid innovation, the end of the Cold War and the subsequent Global War on Terror all but halted anti-ship missile development in the West. As rising tensions with China and Russia make clear: ship-to-ship naval warfare is back. And with it, the need to reach out and sink enemy ships. A new generation of anti-ship missiles (ASMs) are on the horizon. Stealthy, supersonic and autonomous, these missiles are adept at evading defenses and hunting individual ships. The BrahMos is a short range ramjet supersonic cruise missile that can be launched from submarines, ships, aircraft or land. It is a joint venture between the Russia and India who have together formed BrahMos Aerospace Private Limited. It is based on the Russian P-800 Oniks cruise missile and other similar sea-skimming Russian cruise missile technology. It is the world's fastest cruise missile in operation. The missile travels at speeds of Mach 2.8 to 3.0. The land-launched and ship-launched versions are already in service, with the air and submarine-launched versions currently in the testing phase. An air-launched variant of BrahMos is planned which is expected to come out in 2012 and will make India the only country with supersonic cruise missiles in their army, navy, and air force. A hypersonic version of the missile namely BrahMos-II is also presently under development with speed of Mach 7 to boost aerial fast strike capability. It is expected to be ready for testing by 2017. The Long Range Anti-Ship Missile (LRASM) is a stealthy anti-ship cruise missile under development for the US Navy by the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA). The LRASM is intended as a replacement for the US Navy's current anti-ship missile, the Harpoon, which has been in service since 1977. Various launch platform configurations are being evaluated. LRASM is anticipated to pioneer autonomous targeting capabilities for anti-ship missiles. The Navy was authorized by the Pentagon to put the LRASM into limited production as an operational weapon in February 2014 as an urgent capability stop-gap solution to address range and survivability problems with the Harpoon anti-ship missile and to prioritize defeating enemy warships, which has been neglected since the end of the Cold War but taken on importance with the modernization of the Chinese People’s Liberation Army Navy. The Navy will hold a competition for the Offensive Anti-Surface Warfare (OASuW)/Increment 2 anti-ship missile as a follow-on to LRASM to enter service in 2024. Competitors to Lockheed Martin had protested the decision to award them a contract for 90 LRASMs given the circumstances of selection and competition for the missile. Raytheon claimed their JSOW-ER had comparable capabilities with lower costs. The Navy responded by saying Lockheed's LRASM program was limited in scope, the decision to move ahead with them was made after an initial DARPA contract award, and that it was an urgent need to face future threats. The OASuW Increment 2 competition will be completely open and start by FY 2017. It is expected the LRASM will compete against the joint Kongsberg/Raytheon offering of the Joint Strike Missile (JSM) for air-launch needs and an upgraded Raytheon Tomahawk cruise missile for surface-launch needs. The Russian 3M-54 is a Russian surface ship and submarine-launched anti-ship missile developed by the Novator Design Bureau (OKB-8). Its United States Department of Defense (DOD) designation is "SS-N-27A" with the NATO codename of "Sizzler". Derived export versions are the 3M-54E and the 3M-54E1. The 3M-54E has a DOD designation, the SS-N-27B; (it does not have a NATO codename). The 3M-54 and 3M-54E, in their final stage, make a supersonic "sprint" to the target, reducing the time that target's defense systems have to react. The 3M-54E1 has the capability of subsonic speed in its whole flight. Its range is longer than that of the 3M-54E. The name of "Klub" is used for export versions, the 3M-54E and 3M54E1. The XASM-3 is an anti-ship missile being developed by Mitsubishi Heavy Industries for replace the ASM-1 and ASM-2. The major launch platforms are the Mitsubishi F-2. Planned Initial Operational Capability in 2016. This missile will used by the Japan Air Self-Defense Force. The Naval Strike Missile (NSM) is an anti-ship and land-attack missile developed by the Norwegian company Kongsberg Defence & Aerospace (KDA). The original Norwegian name was Nytt sjømålsmissil (literally New sea target missile, indicating that it is the successor of the Penguin missile); the English marketing name Naval Strike Missile was adopted later.