Sea Skua
The Sea Skua is a British lightweight short-range air-to-surface missile designed for use from helicopters against ships. It is used by the Royal Navy on the Westland Lynx. Although the missile is intended for helicopter use, Kuwait employs it in a shore battery and on their Umm Al Maradem fast attack craft; the British Aircraft Corporation began development of the weapon in May 1972. The British Government authorised its production in October 1975. At the time, the missile was known as CL834. In November 1979 the first launches took place at the Aberporth Range in Cardigan Bay. Three missiles were launched from three by helicopters. Further tests were made and in July 1981, full-scale production was ordered of the new missile, now called "Sea Skua". With the missile weighing only 320 pounds at launch, a Lynx helicopter can carry up to four; the booster is a Royal Ordnance "Redstart" steel body, while the sustainer is a Royal Ordnance "Matapan" light alloy body. The missile flies at high subsonic speed to a range of up to 15.5 miles.
The official range is declared to be 15 km, but this is exceeded. The missile has two sensors: a semi-active radar homing system by Marconi Defence Systems, a Thomson-TRT AHV-7 radar altimeter, built under licence by British Aerospace Defence Systems, it can be set to travel at one of four pre-selected heights, depending on the surface conditions. Near the target, the missile climbs to a height; the launching helicopter illuminates the target with its radar, the missile's homing head homes in on the reflected energy. On impact it penetrates the hull of a ship before detonating the 62 pounds blast fragmentation warhead. A semi armour piercing warhead is available; the fuze is an impact-delayed model. The illuminating radar aboard Lynx helicopters is the GEC-Ferranti Seaspray I band, which weighs 64 kilograms, a power of 90 kW, two modes and a 90° observation field; the Seaspray Mk. 3 had a rotating antenna with a 360° field of view. It is capable of operating in a track while scan mode; the missile flight ends after 75–125 seconds, during which time the helicopter can manoeuvre at up to 80° from the missile path.
In addition to serving with the United Kingdom, the Sea Skua has been exported to Germany, India and Turkey. It was preferred to the similar rival, the French-built AS 15 TT though the two missiles had similar performance; the guidance of AS-15TT was radio-command, it required the Agrion 15 radar, unlike the more flexible British missile. Sea Skua's success in active service and its adoption by the Royal Navy resulted in considerable success in the international market. Sea Skuas were launched eight times during the Falklands War, sometimes in bad weather, scoring a high hit rate. Four were used against the 800 ton patrol boat/rescue tug ARA Alférez Sobral, fired by two Lynx helicopters from HMS Coventry and HMS Glasgow. Two struck the patrol boat on the bridge, one hit the ship's fibreglass sea boat, one passed over the ship. Extensive damage was inflicted and eight crewmen were killed, but the ship was not sunk and returned to Puerto Deseado. Another four Sea Skuas were used to destroy the wrecks of the cargo ship Río Carcarañá and the patrol boat Río Iguazú.
During the Gulf War, six naval Lynx helicopters were deployed to the Gulf on four frigates and destroyers of the Royal Navy. On 24 January 1991 one Lynx sank two Iraqi minesweepers near Qurah Island. A third was scuttled. A larger engagement took place on 29 January 1991. A force of seventeen Iraqi landing craft and escorting fast attack craft and minesweepers was detected moving south near Failaka island, as part of the Iraqi attack which resulted in the Battle of Khafji. Two vessels were sunk by Sea Skuas fired by four Lynx helicopters; the remaining vessels were damaged, destroyed or dispersed by American carrier-based aircraft and Royal Navy Sea King helicopters. The next day, another convoy of three Polnocny class landing ship, three TNC-45 fast attack craft and a single T-43 minelayer, was detected in the same area. Sea Skuas fired from four Lynx helicopters destroyed the three fast attack craft, damaged the minesweeper and one landing ship. During several engagements in February, Lynxes with Sea Skuas destroyed a Zhuk class patrol boat, a salvage vessel and another Polnocny class landing ship, damaged another Zhuk patrol boat.
The Sea Skua entered service with the Royal Malaysian Navy as part of the package for the purchase of six AgustaWestland Sea Lynx 300 helicopters. The missiles cost RM104 million. On 16 March 2006 the Royal Malaysian Navy test fired the Sea Skua missile as part of a contractual Firing exercise; the missile was fired eight miles down range from the 40m Surface Target Barge. The Sea Skua failed to explode; the fault was believed to have been traced to a faulty connecting pin wire that ignites the rocket motor. The missile fell into the sea, was not recovered; the Royal Malaysian Navy ordered Matra Bae Dynamics to take back the missiles to conduct system checks, re-tested. On 12 February 2008, the Royal Malaysian Navy conducted a second firing; the missile hit a surface target. Sea Skua is planned to be replaced in UK
Torpedo
A modern torpedo is a self-propelled weapon with an explosive warhead, launched above or below the water surface, propelled underwater towards a target, designed to detonate either on contact with its target or in proximity to it. It was called an automotive, locomotive or fish torpedo; the term torpedo was employed for a variety of devices, most of which would today be called mines. From about 1900, torpedo has been used to designate an underwater self-propelled weapon. While the battleship had evolved around engagements between armoured ships with large-calibre guns, the torpedo allowed torpedo boats and other lighter surface ships, submersibles ordinary fishing boats or frogmen, aircraft, to destroy large armoured ships without the need of large guns, though sometimes at the risk of being hit by longer-range shellfire. Modern torpedoes can be divided into heavyweight classes, they can be launched from a variety of platforms. The word torpedo comes from the name of a genus of electric rays in the order Torpediniformes, which in turn comes from the Latin "torpere".
In naval usage, the American Robert Fulton introduced the name to refer to a towed gunpowder charge used by his French submarine Nautilus to demonstrate that it could sink warships. The concept of a torpedo existed many centuries before it was successfully developed. In 1275, Hasan al-Rammah described "...an egg which moves itself and burns". In modern language, a'torpedo' is an underwater self-propelled explosive, but the term applied to primitive naval mines; these were used on an ad hoc basis during the early modern period up to the late 19th century. Early spar torpedoes were created by the Dutchman Cornelius Drebbel in the employ of King James I of England. An early submarine, attempted to lay a bomb with a timed fuse on the hull of HMS Eagle during the American Revolutionary War, but failed in the attempt. In the early 1800s, the American inventor Robert Fulton, while in France, "conceived the idea of destroying ships by introducing floating mines under their bottoms in submarine boats".
He coined the term "torpedo" in reference to the explosive charges with which he outfitted his submarine Nautilus. However, both the French and the Dutch governments were uninterested in the submarine. Fulton concentrated on developing the torpedo independent of a submarine deployment. On 15 October 1805, while in England, Fulton put on a public display of his "infernal machine", sinking the brig Dorothea with a submerged bomb filled with 180 lb of gunpowder and a clock set to explode in 18 minutes. However, the British government refused to purchase the invention, stating they did not wish to "introduce into naval warfare a system that would give great advantage to weaker maritime nations". Fulton carried out a similar demonstration for the US government on 20 July 1807, destroying a vessel in New York's harbor. Further development languished as Fulton focused on his "steam-boat matters". During the War of 1812, torpedoes were employed in attempts to destroy British vessels and protect American harbors.
In fact a submarine-deployed torpedo was used in an unsuccessful attempt to destroy HMS Ramillies while in New London's harbor. This prompted the British Captain Hardy to warn the Americans to cease efforts with the use of any "torpedo boat" in this "cruel and unheard-of warfare", or he would "order every house near the shore to be destroyed". Torpedoes were used by the Russian Empire during the Crimean War in 1855 against British warships in the Gulf of Finland, they used an early form of chemical detonator. During the American Civil War, the term torpedo was used for what is today called a contact mine, floating on or below the water surface using an air-filled demijohn or similar flotation device; these devices were primitive and apt to prematurely explode. They would be detonated on contact with the ship or after a set time, although electrical detonators were occasionally used. USS Cairo was the first warship to be sunk in 1862 by an electrically-detonated mine. Spar torpedoes were used; these were used by the Confederate submarine H. L. Hunley to sink USS Housatonic although the weapon was apt to cause as much harm to its user as to its target.
Rear Admiral David Farragut's famous/apocryphal command during the Battle of Mobile Bay in 1864, "Damn the torpedoes, full speed ahead!" Refers to a minefield laid at Alabama. On 26 May 1877, during the Romanian War of Independence, the Romanian spar torpedo boat Rândunica attacked and sank the Ottoman river monitor Seyfi; this was the first instance in history when a torpedo craft sank its targets without sinking. In 1866 British engineer Robert Whitehead invented the first effective self-propelled torpedo, the eponymous Whitehead torpedo. French and German inventions followed and the term torpedo came to describe self-propelled projectiles that traveled under or on water. By 1900, the term no longer included mines and booby-traps as the navies of the world added submarines, torpedo boats and torpedo boat destroyers to their fleets. A prototype self-propelled torpedo was created by a commission placed by Giovanni Luppis, an Austro-Hungarian naval officer from Fiume, a port city of the
Anti-ship missile
Anti-ship missiles are guided missiles that are designed for use against ships and large boats. Most anti-ship missiles are of the sea skimming variety, many use a combination of inertial guidance and active radar homing. A good number of other anti-ship missiles use infrared homing to follow the heat, emitted by a ship; the first anti-ship missiles, which were developed and built by Nazi Germany, used radio command guidance. These saw some success in the Mediterranean Theater in 1943–44, sinking or damaging at least 31 ships with the Henschel Hs 293 and more than seven with the Fritz X, such as the Italian battleship Roma or the cruiser USS Savannah. A variant of the HS 293 had a TV transmitter on board; the bomber carrying it could fly outside the range of naval AA guns and use TV guidance to lead the missile to its target by radio control. Many anti-ship missiles can be launched from a variety of weapons systems including surface warships, bombers, fighter planes, patrol planes, shore batteries, land vehicles, conceivably by infantrymen firing shoulder-launched missiles.
The term surface-to-surface missile is used. The longer-range anti-ship missiles are called anti-ship cruise missiles. A typical abbreviation for the phrase "anti-ship missile" is ASM, but AShM can be used to avoid confusion with air-to-surface missiles, anti-submarine missiles, anti-satellite missiles. Anti-ship missiles were among the first instances of short-range guided missiles during World War II in 1943–44; the German Luftwaffe used the Hs 293, the Fritz X, others, all launched from its bombers, to deadly effect against some Allied ships in the Mediterranean Sea damaging ships such as the United States Navy light cruiser USS Savannah off Salerno, Italy. These all used radio command-guidance from the bombardiers of the warplanes; some of these hit and either sank or damaged a number of ships, including warships offshore of amphibious landings on western Italy. These radio-controlled missiles were used until the Allied navies developed missile countermeasures—principally radio jamming; the Allies developed some of their own similar radio-guided AShMs, starting with the U.
S. Navy's SWOD-9 Bat – the first autonomously-guided, radar-homing anti-ship weapon deployed worldwide, being deployed against the Japanese in April 1945 – but the Bat saw little use in combat from its own late-war deployment date. During the Cold War, the Soviet Union turned to a sea-denial strategy concentrating on submarines, naval mines and the AShM. One of the first products of the decision was the SS-N-2 Styx missile. Further products were to follow, they were soon loaded onto the Soviet Air Force's Tu-95 Bear and Tu-22 Blinder bombers, in the case of the air-launched KS-1 Komet. In 1967, the Israeli Navy's destroyer Eilat was the first ship to be sunk by a ship-launched missile – a number of Styx missiles launched by Egyptian Komar-class missile boats off the Sinai Peninsula. In the Indo-Pakistani War of 1971 the Indian Navy conducted two raids using OSA 1-class missile boats employing the Styx on the Pakistani Naval base at Karachi; these raids resulted in the destruction or crippling of two thirds of the Pakistani Navy.
Major losses included two destroyers, a fleet oiler, an ammunition ship a dozen merchant ships and numerous smaller craft. Major shore based facilities, including fuel storage tanks and naval installations were destroyed; the Osas returned to base without loss. The Battle of Latakia in 1973 was the scene of the world's first combat between missile boats. In this battle, the Israeli Navy destroyed Syrian warships without suffering any damage, using electronic countermeasures and ruses for defense. After defeating the Syrian navy the Israeli missile boats sank a number of Egyptian warships, again without suffering any damage in return, thus achieving total naval supremacy for the rest of the war. Anti-ship missiles were used in the 1982 Falklands War; the British warship HMS Sheffield, a 4,820 ton Type 42 Destroyer, was struck by a single air-launched Exocet AShM, she sank as a result of the damage that she sustained. The container ship Atlantic Conveyor was sunk by an Exocet. HMS Glamorgan was damaged when she was struck by an MM38 missile launched from an improvised trailer-based launcher taken from the Argentine Navy destroyer ARA Comodoro Seguí by Navy technicians, but she was able to take evasive action that restricted the damage.
In 1987, a US Navy guided-missile frigate, the USS Stark, was hit by an Exocet anti-ship missile fired by an Iraqi Mirage F-1 fighter plane. Stark was damaged. In October 1987, the Sungari, an American-owned tanker steaming under the Liberian flag, a Kuwaiti tanker steaming under the American flag, the Sea Isle City, were hit by Iranian HY-2 missiles. In 1988 ASMs were fired by both American and Iranian forces in Operation Praying Mantis in the Persian Gulf. During this naval battle, several Iranian warships were hit by American ASMs; the US Navy hit the Iranian Navy light frigate IS Sahand with three Harpoon missiles, four AGM-123 Skipper rocket-propelled bombs, a Walleye tv-guided bomb, several 1,000 lb "iron bombs". Despite the large number of munitions and successful hits, the 1,540 ton IS Sahand did not sink until fire reached her ammunition magazine, causing it to detonate, sinking the vessel. In the same engagement, American w
Sonar
Sonar is a technique that uses sound propagation to navigate, communicate with or detect objects on or under the surface of the water, such as other vessels. Two types of technology share the name "sonar": passive sonar is listening for the sound made by vessels. Sonar may be used as a means of acoustic location and of measurement of the echo characteristics of "targets" in the water. Acoustic location in air was used before the introduction of radar. Sonar may be used in air for robot navigation, SODAR is used for atmospheric investigations; the term sonar is used for the equipment used to generate and receive the sound. The acoustic frequencies used in sonar systems vary from low to high; the study of underwater sound is known as underwater hydroacoustics. The first recorded use of the technique was by Leonardo da Vinci in 1490 who used a tube inserted into the water to detect vessels by ear, it was developed during World War I to counter the growing threat of submarine warfare, with an operational passive sonar system in use by 1918.
Modern active sonar systems use an acoustic transponder to generate a sound wave, reflected back from target objects. Although some animals have used sound for communication and object detection for millions of years, use by humans in the water is recorded by Leonardo da Vinci in 1490: a tube inserted into the water was said to be used to detect vessels by placing an ear to the tube. In the late 19th century an underwater bell was used as an ancillary to lighthouses or light ships to provide warning of hazards; the use of sound to "echo-locate" underwater in the same way as bats use sound for aerial navigation seems to have been prompted by the Titanic disaster of 1912. The world's first patent for an underwater echo-ranging device was filed at the British Patent Office by English meteorologist Lewis Fry Richardson a month after the sinking of the Titanic, a German physicist Alexander Behm obtained a patent for an echo sounder in 1913; the Canadian engineer Reginald Fessenden, while working for the Submarine Signal Company in Boston, built an experimental system beginning in 1912, a system tested in Boston Harbor, in 1914 from the U.
S. Revenue Cutter Miami on the Grand Banks off Newfoundland. In that test, Fessenden echo ranging; the "Fessenden oscillator", operated at about 500 Hz frequency, was unable to determine the bearing of the iceberg due to the 3-metre wavelength and the small dimension of the transducer's radiating face. The ten Montreal-built British H-class submarines launched in 1915 were equipped with Fessenden oscillators. During World War I the need to detect; the British made early use of underwater listening devices called hydrophones, while the French physicist Paul Langevin, working with a Russian immigrant electrical engineer Constantin Chilowsky, worked on the development of active sound devices for detecting submarines in 1915. Although piezoelectric and magnetostrictive transducers superseded the electrostatic transducers they used, this work influenced future designs. Lightweight sound-sensitive plastic film and fibre optics have been used for hydrophones, while Terfenol-D and PMN have been developed for projectors.
In 1916, under the British Board of Invention and Research, Canadian physicist Robert William Boyle took on the active sound detection project with A. B. Wood, producing a prototype for testing in mid-1917; this work, for the Anti-Submarine Division of the British Naval Staff, was undertaken in utmost secrecy, used quartz piezoelectric crystals to produce the world's first practical underwater active sound detection apparatus. To maintain secrecy, no mention of sound experimentation or quartz was made – the word used to describe the early work was changed to "ASD"ics, the quartz material to "ASD"ivite: "ASD" for "Anti-Submarine Division", hence the British acronym ASDIC. In 1939, in response to a question from the Oxford English Dictionary, the Admiralty made up the story that it stood for "Allied Submarine Detection Investigation Committee", this is still believed, though no committee bearing this name has been found in the Admiralty archives. By 1918, Britain and France had built prototype active systems.
The British tested their ASDIC on HMS Antrim in 1920 and started production in 1922. The 6th Destroyer Flotilla had ASDIC-equipped vessels in 1923. An anti-submarine school HMS Osprey and a training flotilla of four vessels were established on Portland in 1924; the U. S. Sonar QB set arrived in 1931. By the outbreak of World War II, the Royal Navy had five sets for different surface ship classes, others for submarines, incorporated into a complete anti-submarine attack system; the effectiveness of early ASDIC was hampered by the use of the depth charge as an anti-submarine weapon. This required an attacking vessel to pass over a submerged contact before dropping charges over the stern, resulting in a loss of ASDIC contact in the moments leading up to attack; the hunter was firing blind, during which time a submarine commander could take evasive action. This situation was remedied by using several ships cooperating and by the adoption of "ahead-throwing weapons", such as Hedgehogs and Squids, which proj
MTU Friedrichshafen
MTU Friedrichshafen GmbH is a manufacturer of commercial internal combustion engines founded by Wilhelm Maybach and his son Karl Maybach in 1909. Wilhelm Maybach was the technical director of Daimler-Motoren-Gesellschaft, a predecessor company of the German multinational automotive corporation Daimler AG, until he left in 1907. On 23 March 1909, he founded the new company, Luftfahrzeug-Motorenbau GmbH, with his son Karl Maybach as director. A few years the company was renamed to Maybach-Motorenbau GmbH, which developed and manufactured diesel and petrol engines for Zeppelins, railcars; the Maybach Mb. IVa was used in aircraft and airships of World War I; the company first built an experimental car in 1919, with the first production model introduced two years at the Berlin Motor Show. Between 1921 and 1940, the company produced various classic opulent vehicles; the company continued to build heavy duty diesel engines for marine and rail purposes. During the Second World War, Maybach produced the engines for Germany's medium and heavy tanks.
The company was renamed MTU Friedrichshafen in the 1960s and continued to supply the engines for the Leopard 2 main battle tank. MTU derives from Motoren- und Turbinen-Union meaning "Motor and Turbine Union". MTU Friedrichshafen remained a subsidiary of DaimlerChrysler until 2006 when it was sold off to the EQT IV private equity fund, becoming a part of the Tognum Corporation. Rolls-Royce Holdings and Daimler AG acquired Tognum in 2011. In 2014, Tognum was renamed Rolls-Royce Power Systems, having become a 100 per cent subsidiary of Rolls-Royce Holdings; the company manufactures diesel engines for trains, ships and gas installations, military vehicles, agriculture and construction equipment, as well as diesel generators and molten carbonate fuel cells. 1909: Foundation of Luftfahrzeug-Motorenbau GmbH in Bissingen an der Enz as part of the Zeppelin corporation. The company manufactures engines for airships. 1912: 1911/12 relocation to Friedrichshafen. 1918: Motorenbau GmbH is renamed Maybach-Motorenbau GmbH.
After the end of the First World War the company began to manufacture car engines. 1966: Merger of the two companies Mercedes-Benz Motorenbau Friedrichshafen GmbH and Maybach-Motorenbau GmbH to form Maybach Mercedes-Benz Motorenbau GmbH. 1969: Maybach Mercedes-Benz Motorenbau GmbH is renamed Motoren und Turbinen-Union Friedrichshafen GmbH. The company is a subsidiary of MTU München GmbH, owned at equal shares by Daimler-Benz AG and MAN AG until 1985. 1989: Incorporation of MTU Friedrichshafen in Deutsche Aero-space AG, a company of the Daimler-Benz Group. 1994: Cooperation of MTU Friedrichshafen with Detroit Diesel Corporation 1995: MTU Friedrichshafen and MTU München go their separate ways. 2001: MTU Motoren- und Turbinen-Union Friedrichshafen GmbH is renamed MTU Friedrichshafen GmbH. 2005: In late 2005, the DaimlerChrysler Off-Highway business unit, including MTU Friedrichshafen and the Off-Highway division of Detroit Diesel Corporation, is sold to the Swedish financial investor EQT Partners.
2006: The business is transferred into the new holding company Tognum, with MTU Friedrichshafen as its core company. 2009: MTU Friedrichshafen celebrates its centenary. In the same year introduction of the new Series 1600, rounding off the performance range at the lower end of the product portfolio. 2011: Rolls-Royce Holdings and Daimler AG announced they were buying Tognum 2014: Tognum was renamed Rolls-Royce Power Systems 2014: From 26 August Rolls-Royce Power Systems became a 100 per cent subsidiary of Rolls-Royce Holdings Rolls-Royce Power Systems Wilhelm Maybach Maybach-Motorenbau GmbH Daimler AG Rolls-Royce Holdings Detroit Diesel Bergen Marine Official website History of the company MTU spare parts Maybach tank engines MTU Western U. S. Distributor: Pacific Power Group
Harpoon (missile)
The Harpoon is an all-weather, over-the-horizon, anti-ship missile system and manufactured by McDonnell Douglas. In 2004, Boeing delivered the 7,000th Harpoon unit since the weapon's introduction in 1977; the missile system has been further developed into a land-strike weapon, the Standoff Land Attack Missile. The regular Harpoon uses active radar homing, a low-level, sea-skimming cruise trajectory to improve survivability and lethality; the missile's launch platforms include: Fixed-wing aircraft Surface ships Submarines. In 1965 the United States Navy began studies for a missile in the 45 kilometres range class for use against surfaced submarines; the name Harpoon was assigned to the project. The sinking of the Israeli destroyer Eilat in 1967 by a Soviet-built Styx anti-ship missile shocked senior United States Navy officers, who until had not been conscious of the threat posed by anti-ship missiles. In 1970 Chief of Naval Operations Admiral Elmo Zumwalt accelerated the development of Harpoon as part of his "Project Sixty" initiative, hoping to add much needed striking power to US surface combatants.
Harpoon was developed for use on US Navy warships such as the Ticonderoga-class cruiser as their principal anti-ship weapon system. The Harpoon has been adapted for carriage on several aircraft, including the P-3 Orion, the P-8 Poseidon, the AV-8B Harrier II, the F/A-18 Hornet and the U. S. Air Force B-52H bombers; the Harpoon was purchased by many American allies, including India, Singapore, South Korea, the United Arab Emirates and most NATO countries. The Royal Australian Air Force is capable of firing AGM-84 series missiles from its F/A-18F Super Hornets, F/A-18A/B Hornets, AP-3C Orion aircraft, from the now retired F-111C/Gs; the Royal Australian Navy deploys the Harpoon on major surface combatants and in the Collins-class submarines. The Spanish Air Force and the Chilean Navy are AGM-84D customers, they deploy the missiles on surface ships, F/A-18s, F-16s, P-3 Orion aircraft; the British Royal Navy deploys the Harpoon on several types of surface ships. The Royal Canadian Navy carries Harpoon missiles on its Halifax-class frigates.
The Royal New Zealand Air Force is looking at adding the capability of carrying a stand-off missile Harpoon or AGM-65 Maverick, on its six P-3 Orion patrol planes once they have all been upgraded to P3K2 standard. The Republic of Singapore Air Force operates five modified Fokker 50 Maritime Patrol Aircraft which are fitted with the sensors needed to fire the Harpoon missile; the Pakistani Navy carries the Harpoon missile on P-3C Orions. The Turkish Navy carries Harpoons on Type 209 submarines; the Turkish Air Force will be armed with the SLAM-ER. At least 339 Harpoon missiles were sold to the Republic of China Air Force for its F-16 A/B Block 20 fleet and the Taiwanese Navy, which operates four guided-missile destroyers and eight guided-missile frigates with the capability of carrying the Harpoon, including the eight former U. S. Navy Knox-class frigates and the four former USN Kidd-class destroyers which have been sold to Taiwan; the two Zwaardvis/Hai Lung submarines and 12 P-3C Orion aircraft can use the missile.
The eight Cheng Kung-class frigates, despite being based on the US Oliver Hazard Perry class, have Harpoon capabilities deleted from their combat systems, funding to restore it has so far been denied. The Block 1 missiles were designated AGM/RGM/UGM-84A in US service and UGM-84B in the UK. Block 1B standard missiles were designated AGM/RGM/UGM-84C, Block 1C missiles were designated AGM/RGM/UGM-84D. Block 1 used a terminal attack mode that included a pop-up to 1,800 metres before diving on the target; this version featured a larger fuel tank and re-attack capability, but was not produced in large numbers because its intended mission was considered to be unlikely following the Dissolution of the Soviet Union. Range is 278 kilometres. Block 1D missiles were designated RGM/AGM-84F; this version, under development, gives the SLAM a re-attack capability, as well as an image comparison capability similar to the Tomahawk cruise missile. Block 1G missiles AGM/RGM/UGM-84G. Block 1J was a proposal for a further upgrade, AGM/RGM/UGM-84J Harpoon, for use against both ship and land targets.
In production at Boeing facilities in Saint Charles, Missouri, is the Harpoon Block II, intended to offer an expanded engagement envelope, enhanced resistance to electronic countermeasures and improved targeting. The Harpoon was designed as an open-ocean weapon; the Block II missiles continue progress begun with Block IE, the Block II missile provides the Harpoon with a littoral-water anti-ship capability. The key improvements of the Harpoon Block II are obtained by incorporating the inertial measurement unit from the Joint Direc
Mark 41 Vertical Launching System
The Mark 41 Vertical Launching System is a shipborne missile canister launching system which provides a rapid-fire launch capability against hostile threats. The Vertical Launch System concept was derived from work on the Aegis Combat System. Refinement of the initial concept of Aegis system in the 1960s continued through the 1960s and 1970s, the Mk 41 was conceived in 1976; the system was only intended to fire the RIM-66 Standard missile, but the height of the Mk 41 was increased to accommodate the larger Tomahawk missile. The prototype for the launcher was evaluated on board USS Norton Sound; the first operational launcher was installed aboard USS Bunker Hill. The Mk 41 is capable of firing the following missiles: RIM-66 Standard, RIM-67 Standard, RIM-161 Standard Missile 3, RIM-174 Standard ERAM, RGM-109 Tomahawk, RUM-139 VL-ASROC, RIM-7 Sea Sparrow, RIM-162 ESSM; the missiles are pre-loaded into "canisters", which are loaded into the individual "cells" of the launcher. The ESSM is loaded in a quad-pack with 4 missiles in one Mk 25 canister, older types of 8 cell modules are not able to use ESSM.
Launcher cells are fitted to ships in 8 cell modules that share a common uptake hatch sited between the two rows. The Mk 41 VLS adopts modular design concept, which result in different versions that vary in size and weight due to different "canisters" in various modules; the height of the launcher comes in three sizes: 209 inches for the self-defense version, 266 inches for the tactical version, 303 inches for the strike version. The empty weight for an 8-cell module is 26,800 pounds for the self-defense version, 29,800 pounds for the tactical version, 32,000 pounds for the strike version. Ticonderoga cruisers and Arleigh Burke destroyers up to DDG-78 have a Strikedown module fore and aft, which consists of five cells and a collapsible crane for assisting with replenishment at sea; as replenishment of large missiles at sea was seen as impractical and dangerous, Strikedown modules fell out of use on newer ships. The Mk 57 VLS is an evolution of Mk 41 VLS. Unlike the Mk 41, the Mk 57 is designed to be installed on the ship periphery instead of in centralized magazines.
Developed by Raytheon, it provides backwards compatibility with existing missiles while allowing new missiles with increased propulsion and payloads. While allowing for larger missiles than the Mk 41, the primary improvement of Mk 57 is its exhaust gas management system that can accommodate new missile designs having up to 45 percent greater rocket motor mass flow rate than that of Mk 41; the unique symmetric geometry of the U-shaped gas management system facilitates the egress of gases, while minimizing flow into witness cells and reversed flow into the active cell. Another advantage is the elimination of the water deluge system, used to cool the missile canister in the event that the missile restraint bolts do not release after rocket motor ignition. Elimination of the water deluge system reduces maintenance and personnel requirements, protects against accidental missile wet-down. According to NAVEDTRA 14324, Gunner's Mate, Chapter 7: MK 41 Mod 0, Ticonderoga-class cruisers, two 61 cell Vertical Launcher Mk 158 Mod 0 or Mod 1, forward and aft.
MK 41 Mod 1, Spruance-class destroyers, 61 cells forward. MK 41 Mod 2, Arleigh Burke-class destroyers, DDG-51 to DDG-78, one 29 cell Vertical Launcher Mk 159 Mod 0 forward, one 61 cell Vertical Launcher Mk 158 Mod 0 aft. MK 41 Mod 3, Brandenburg-class frigates, 16 cells. MK 41 Mod 5, Anzac-class frigates, 8 cells MK 41 Mod 7, Arleigh Burke-class destroyer, DDG-79 to DDG-91, one 32 cell Vertical Launcher Mk 177 Mod 0 forward, one 64 cell Vertical Launcher Mk 176 Mod 0 aft. MK 41 Mod 8, Barbaros-class frigates, MK 41 Mod 9, De Zeven Provinciën-class frigate, 40 cells MK 41 Mod 10, Sachsen-class frigates, 32 cells MK 41 Mod 15, Arleigh Burke-class destroyer, DDG-92 and up, one 32 cell Vertical Launcher Mk 177 Mod 3 forward, one 64 cell Vertical Launcher Mk 176 Mod 2 aft. MK 41 Mod 16, Adelaide-class frigate, 8 cells AustraliaAdelaide-class frigate - Anzac-class frigate - Hobart-class destroyer - Hunter-class frigate - CanadaIroquois-class destroyer - DenmarkIver Huitfeldt-class frigate - FinlandPohjanmaa-class corvette - GermanySachsen-class frigate - Brandenburg-class frigate - JapanAtago-class destroyer - Kongō-class destroyer - Hyūga-class helicopter destroyer - Murasame-class destroyer - Takanami-class destroyer - Akizuki-class destroyer - Asahi-class destroyer - NetherlandsDe Zeven Provinciën-class frigate - NorwayFridtjof Nansen-class frigate - New ZealandAnzac-class frigate - South KoreaChungmugong Yi Sun-shin-class destroyer - King Sejong the Great-class destroyer - SpainÁlvaro de Bazán-class frigate - Taiwan"Kaohsiung"Command ship - ThailandNaresuan-class frigate - TurkeyG class frigate - Barbaros-class frigate - United KingdomType 26-frigate- United StatesSpruance-class destroyer - Arleigh Burke-class destroyer - Ticonderoga-class cruiser - Zumwalt-class destroyer - Sylver Vertical Launching System - a competitor to the MK 41 VLS FAS - Mk 41 Lockheed Martin - Mk 41 VLS Factsheet
German Navy
.jpg)
,_left,_and_the_aircraft_carrier_USS_Dwight_D._Eisenhower_(CVN_69),_right,_take_on_fuel_and_stores_from_the_Military_Sealift_Command_fast_combat_support_ship_USNS_Bridge_130323-N-GC639-175.jpg)
