Artificial intelligence helps the LRASM evade defenses, home on its prey.
Admiral
Harry Harris, commander of the U.S. Pacific Command, wants the Navy
to put LRASM into service ASAP to counter surface threats in the
Chinese, Russian, and North Korean navies. In comments to the Senate
Armed Services Committee, Harris described LRASM as a "great capability we need to bring online fast."
For
decades, the U.S. Navy relied upon the Harpoon missile as its primary
ship killer. Introduced in 1977, Harpoon could fly to ranges of 67 miles
at sea-skimming altitudes, cruising just above the waves to decrease
radar detection range. On impact, Harpoon would smash into an enemy
ship, detonating a 468-pound high explosive warhead with devastating
effect. Harpoon was adapted to ships, aircraft, and submarines, and is
used throughout NATO navies and allies such as Japan.
While
Harpoon was a great missile for its time, the end of the Cold War and
the lack of any competing navies meant the United States had little
interest in upgrading or replacing it. A focus on land wars since 9/11
further delayed the upgrades to the Navy's anti-ship firepower. But now
it's 2016, and suddenly the People's Liberation Army Navy—the
official name of the Chinese Navy—has new ships quickly rolling off the
assembly lines. China built 44 destroyers, frigates, and corvettes in
just the last 10 years—and that's not counting other surface combatants,
an aircraft carrier, submarines, amphibious ships, and the ships of the
China Coast Guard.
LRASM,
the Navy's next great hope, is basically an anti-ship cruise missile.
The ship version is launched from the Mk.41 missile silo, standard on
all U.S. Navy destroyers and cruisers. Rising on a pillar of flame and
smoke, a rocket booster carries LRASM to a pre-set altitude, whereupon
it is ejected and the missile's turbofan engine kicks in. A pair of
wings pop out of the missile's flanks to steer it.
LRASM's range is currently classified. It's actually based on an Air Force missile, the Joint Air-to-Surface Standoff Missile-Extended Range (JASSM-ER), which has a range of at least 500 miles. It also packs a 1,000 warhead, more than twice that of the Harpoon.
LRASM
is first guided by the ship that launched it, then by satellite. The
missile is jam-resistant and can carry on even if it loses contact with
the Global Positioning System. As part of the targeting system, the
missile can be set to fly to a series of waypoints, flying around static
threats, land features, and commercial shipping. LRASM can detect
threats between waypoints and navigate around them. If it decides it
would be entering the engagement range of an enemy ship not
on the target list, LRASM will fly around the ship, even skipping
waypoints that might lie within enemy range and going on to the next
one.
After
locating the enemy fleet, it dives to sea-skimming altitude to avoid
close-in defenses. LRASM then sizes up the enemy fleet, locates its
target, and calculates the desired "mean point of impact"—the exact spot
the missile should aim for, taking into account the accuracy of the
missile—to ensure the missile does not miss. In most instances that is
the exact center of the ship, with the angle of the ship in relation to
the missile taken into consideration.
What
really makes LRASM stand out is that all of this is completely
autonomous. Human beings tell the missile where the enemy fleet is,
which ship to strike, and a provide it with a continuous stream of
data—the missile takes care of everything else. Using artificial
intelligence, the missile takes data and makes decisions all on its own.
Using AI and datalinks, multiple LRASMs can launch a coordinated attack
on an enemy fleet.
Chinese and Russian missiles use raw speed in an attempt to shorten the defender's reaction time. The 3M54 Klub
anti-ship missile, for example, accelerates to Mach 2.9 in the seconds
before impact. By comparison, LRASM pokes along at below Mach 1. Its
attitude: You don't have to outrun what you are smart enough to avoid.
LRASM will arm destroyers and cruisers of the US Navy, where they will fight for space in the vertical launch silos alongside ESSM, SM-2 and SM-6 surface-to-air missiles, SM-3 ballistic missile interceptors, Tomahawk land attack missiles, and ASROC
anti-ship rockets. While that makes fielding the right mix of weapons a
little more complicated, it does offer more flexibility in offensive
missions, meaning that a destroyer could carry anywhere between 0 and 96
LRASMs.
LRASM
will also arm the F/A-18E/F Super Hornet, which will be able to carry
two missiles, and the F-35C Joint Strike Fighter, which will also be
able to carry two missiles. The Air Force's B-1 should be able to carry
up to 24 LRASMs. JASSM-ER can also be carried on the B-2, B-52, F-15E
Strike Eagle and F-16, so it's possible the LRASM could migrate to those
platforms also.
The
Navy plans to buy the first 24 LRASMs in 2017 towards a total of 464 by
2021, at a cost of roughly half a million dollar apiece. While Navy
watchers have bemoaned the lack of a new anti-ship missile for years,
it's finally here, and it appears to have been worth the wait. Now all
it needs is a good name.
http://www.popularmechanics.com/military/weapons/a19624/the-navys-new-missile-sinks-ships-the-smart-way/
http://www.popularmechanics.com/military/weapons/a19624/the-navys-new-missile-sinks-ships-the-smart-way/
No comments:
Post a Comment