How the U.S. Military’s New Ship-Killing Missile Turns Targets' Radar Against Them
The Long Range Anti-Ship Missile homes in on the enemy’s own signals.
By Kyle Mizokami
Dec 6, 2017
The Pentagon’s newest anti-ship missile uses technology from the B-2 stealth bomber to home in on and sink enemy ships. The Long Range Anti-Ship Missile (LRASM), the U.S. Military’s first new anti-ship missile in more than thirty years, homes in on the very radar signals an enemy ship broadcasts to defend itself. The result is a missile that can work in so-called “denied†environments when navigational assets such as the Global Positioning System are unavailable.
The Navy’s main anti-ship missile, the Harpoon, first entered service in 1977. Called an "anti-ship cruise missile," the Harpoon launched from a ship, aircraft, or submarine, and uses an active radar system to detect enemy ships and home in on them. Although progressively updated over the years, Harpoon has grown pretty long in the tooth and is due for a replacement.
http://www.popularmechanics.com/military/weapons/a14292926/long-range-anti-ship-missile-targeting-system-explained/
