Lockheed Martin announced on July 21 that it had recently conducted the third successful controlled flight test of the Long Range Anti-Ship Missile (LRASM) at the Point Mugu Sea Range in California.
Lockheed Martin provided an operational LRASM and refurbished a Mk 41 vertical launch system (VLS) cell for the test on board the Navy’s self defense test ship, the former USS Paul Foster.
The LRASM, with a range of 500 nautical miles, was fitted with an additional booster for launching and it was connected to the Tactical Tomahawk Weapon Control System (TTWCS) for guidance. This demonstration of launching the LRASM from a moving ship in a dynamic at-sea environment was a critical step in proving the maturity of the surface-launch variant.
Previously the LRASM was successfully tested from a ground-based MK 41 VLS ‘Desert Ship’ in 2013 and 2014. Integrating LRASM with the VLS will provide every Aegis destroyer and cruiser with a long-range, survivable missile.
July 29, 2016
