Navy LCS Deck-Launched HELLFIRE to be Operational by 2017
[Kris Osborn]
Kris Osborn
07/25/2016
Firing a HELLFIRE missile from an LCS will help the ship better attack swarms of approaching small boats and other maneuvering targets.
The Navy plans to have an operational ship-launched HELLFIRE missile on its Littoral Combat Ship by next year, giving the vessel an opportunity to better destroy approaching enemy attacks --such as swarms of attacking small boats -- at farther ranges than its existing deck-mounted guns are able to fire.
“Both the 30mm guns and the Longbow HELLFIRE are designed to go after that fast attack aircraft and high speed boats coming into attack LCS typically in a swarm raid type of configuration,” Capt. Casey Moton, LCS Mission Modules Program Manager, told Scout Warrior in an interview. said.
The 30mm guns will be fired against close-in threats and attacks – and the HELLFIRE is being engineered to strike targets farther away out toward the horizon. The concept is to increase ship Commander’s target engagement targets against fast-maneuvering surface targets such as remotely controlled boats and fast-attack craft carrying pedestal mounted guns, Moton explained.
http://www.scout.com/military/warrior/story/1689217-navy-lcs-to-deploy-deck-fired-hellifre-2017
