Re: Weapons Engineering - Gunnery and Missile Systems
Posted: Fri Aug 23, 2019 3:35 pm
More details emerge about plan to replace Royal Navy Harpoon anti-ship missile
This week the MoD Weapons, Torpedoes, Tomahawk and Harpoon (TTH) Project Team issued a Contract Notice (CN) which outlines more of the requirements for a new weapon to replace the Harpoon Block 1C anti-ship missiles.
In March 2019 the MoD issued a Prior Information Notice (PIN), not a formal request for tender but a document that sets out their general requirements to potential contractors. This provided reassurance the obsolete Harpoon 1C would actually be replaced by an interim purchase. Until 2017 the RN had accepted that budget pressures meant Harpoon would go out of service in 2020 with no replacement. The retirement date was pushed back to 2023 and now funding has been secured to replace the system, at least on a modest scale.
The PIN states the available budget would be up to £200M, enough to buy a stock of missiles, logistic and training support until the FCASW is available in the early 2030s. (The Future Cruise and Anti-Ship Weapon is an Anglo-French project to replace a variety of long-range missiles with new generation technology, it is unclear, as yet if it will be capable of hypersonic speeds or another subsonic stealthy cruise missile). As a critical bi-lateral international project, it is important to signal to the French that I-SSGW will only be a small purchase to cover a 10-year capability gap and does not mean the UK is losing interest in FCASW.
The contract notice, issued on 19th August says the Interim Surface to Surface Guided Weapon (I-SSGW) is to provide “a ship-launched, over-the-horizon precision anti-ship capability and a terrain-following precision maritime land attack capability.” The desire for land-attack capability is sound and but adds another dimension to the project. Although the deterrence factor of having the ability to sink other ships is critical, recent history suggests we are much more likely to need to hit inland targets than attack shipping. The RN’s limited stock of Tomahawk Land Attack Missiles (TLAM) can only be fired from submarines. On a good day, the RN is able to put only 2 or 3 SSNs to sea and they have a multitude of other pressing tasks. The RN’s land-attack capability has been used in several conflicts and is a powerful tool but may require the SSN to loiter in suitable firing area for some time. Frigates able to attack land targets offers greater flexibility and an alternative, if less stealthy, option. Many modern AShM feature land-attack modes already so this would be a big gain for little extra cost.
It should be noted that TLAM is more powerful than the AShM hybrids and has a 1,000lb warhead and a range of about 900nm. The RAF’s Storm Shadow has a 450kg warhead optimised for bunker-busting so I-SSGW would complete a suite of UK land-attack weapons, each with its own advantages.
Continues with images at - https://www.savetheroyalnavy.org/more-d ... T8uBwTeK2Q
Also:
The MoD are looking for missile with ship launched over the horizon precision anti-ship capability and a terrain following precision maritime land attack capability.
The MoD Weapons, Torpedoes, Tomahawk and Harpoon Project Team (the TTH project team) advise they are looking to outfit five Royal Navy vessels, the Type 23 Frigates, with the systems.
Continues at - https://ukdefencejournal.org.uk/mod-fur ... RUoAKN7QX0
This week the MoD Weapons, Torpedoes, Tomahawk and Harpoon (TTH) Project Team issued a Contract Notice (CN) which outlines more of the requirements for a new weapon to replace the Harpoon Block 1C anti-ship missiles.
In March 2019 the MoD issued a Prior Information Notice (PIN), not a formal request for tender but a document that sets out their general requirements to potential contractors. This provided reassurance the obsolete Harpoon 1C would actually be replaced by an interim purchase. Until 2017 the RN had accepted that budget pressures meant Harpoon would go out of service in 2020 with no replacement. The retirement date was pushed back to 2023 and now funding has been secured to replace the system, at least on a modest scale.
The PIN states the available budget would be up to £200M, enough to buy a stock of missiles, logistic and training support until the FCASW is available in the early 2030s. (The Future Cruise and Anti-Ship Weapon is an Anglo-French project to replace a variety of long-range missiles with new generation technology, it is unclear, as yet if it will be capable of hypersonic speeds or another subsonic stealthy cruise missile). As a critical bi-lateral international project, it is important to signal to the French that I-SSGW will only be a small purchase to cover a 10-year capability gap and does not mean the UK is losing interest in FCASW.
The contract notice, issued on 19th August says the Interim Surface to Surface Guided Weapon (I-SSGW) is to provide “a ship-launched, over-the-horizon precision anti-ship capability and a terrain-following precision maritime land attack capability.” The desire for land-attack capability is sound and but adds another dimension to the project. Although the deterrence factor of having the ability to sink other ships is critical, recent history suggests we are much more likely to need to hit inland targets than attack shipping. The RN’s limited stock of Tomahawk Land Attack Missiles (TLAM) can only be fired from submarines. On a good day, the RN is able to put only 2 or 3 SSNs to sea and they have a multitude of other pressing tasks. The RN’s land-attack capability has been used in several conflicts and is a powerful tool but may require the SSN to loiter in suitable firing area for some time. Frigates able to attack land targets offers greater flexibility and an alternative, if less stealthy, option. Many modern AShM feature land-attack modes already so this would be a big gain for little extra cost.
It should be noted that TLAM is more powerful than the AShM hybrids and has a 1,000lb warhead and a range of about 900nm. The RAF’s Storm Shadow has a 450kg warhead optimised for bunker-busting so I-SSGW would complete a suite of UK land-attack weapons, each with its own advantages.
Continues with images at - https://www.savetheroyalnavy.org/more-d ... T8uBwTeK2Q
Also:
The MoD are looking for missile with ship launched over the horizon precision anti-ship capability and a terrain following precision maritime land attack capability.
The MoD Weapons, Torpedoes, Tomahawk and Harpoon Project Team (the TTH project team) advise they are looking to outfit five Royal Navy vessels, the Type 23 Frigates, with the systems.
Continues at - https://ukdefencejournal.org.uk/mod-fur ... RUoAKN7QX0