The Navy, General Dynamics Mission Systems, and Raytheon Missile Systems are collaborating to integrate the Mk 87 Mod 0 over-the-horizon Naval Strike Missile (NSM) with the entire fleet of Freedom- and Independence-class littoral combat ships.
General Dynamics, in its role as systems integrator for the Independence class, and Raytheon, prime contractor for the missile, completed the first NSM integration on board the USS Gabrielle Giffords (LCS-10) in San Diego last summer. The ship test-launched the weapon successfully in early October during exercise Pacific Griffin, a biennial exercise of the U.S. and Singaporean navies held near Guam.
Officials at General Dynamics say the missile integration team, which included staff from shipbuilder Austal USA, “determined equipment placement, adapted the ship’s navigation system to send unique signals to the missile system, and designed the operational . . . system to provide specialized power to the Mk 87.”
The Navy’s plan to field the NSM on the LCSs responds to longtime criticism that the ships, designed to accommodate separate mission “packages” for antisurface, antisubmarine, and mine-countermeasures operations, are too lightly armed for high-intensity surface combat. The deficiency became more critical when the Navy adopted the surface warfare concept of “distributed lethality” in 2015, which postulates more lethal offensive capability for the surface fleet. In large part in reaction to the LCSs’ flaws, the Navy launched the future frigate (FFG[X]) program, now in competition, with proposals from Fincantieri, General Dynamics Bath Iron Works/Navantia, Huntington Ingalls Industries, and Austal USA.
All the LCSs and FFG(X)s eventually will get the Mk 87 missile. The Navy awarded a competitively bid $14.8 million contract for NSMs to the industry team of Raytheon and Norway’s Kongsberg, developer of the missile, in June 2018. Kongsberg is a major supplier of defense systems for Norway’s navy and air force.
Kongsberg officials say the NSM, a precision-strike surface weapon fitted with an advanced seeker, will be able to attack targets at ranges up to 100 nautical miles, flying at sea-skimming and “super-sea-skim” altitudes to reduce its radar signature. As it approaches the target, the missile employs evasive maneuvers to evade terminal-defense systems.
Randy Kempton, director of the NSM program at Raytheon, says that the Navy determines the missile integration schedule for the LCSs. The company will build launchers at its Louisville, Kentucky, facility and carry out integration of complete missile systems at its Tucson, Arizona, plant. Kempton says the company has selected Ducommun to build the NSM fire control system. That work will be done at Ducommun’s Berryville and Huntsville, Arkansas, sites.
The Navy test-launched the NSM successfully from the USS Coronado (LCS-4) in September 2014. Raytheon and Kongsberg formed a partnership for the NSM competition in April 2015. Boeing and Lockheed Martin initially planned to compete for the award, with Boeing offering its already fielded Harpoon antisurface missile and Lockheed Martin a long-range antiship missile concept. Lockheed Martin pulled out of the competition.
Kempton says Raytheon-Kongsberg won the contract because the NSM is an off-the-shelf system already widely fielded for long-range surface defense. He says the integration with the Gabrielle Giffords was completed 15 months ahead of schedule.
The Norwegian Navy fielded NSMs in 2012 on its five Aegis Fridtjof Nansen–class frigates and Skjold-class corvettes. Poland’s navy also has purchased NSMs on truck-mounted launchers for coastal defense. The Royal Malaysian Navy is acquiring the NSM for its Gowind-class corvettes. In June 2018, Kongsberg announced an agreement with the German Navy for adaptation and deployment of NSMs on German submarines.
Kempton says that Raytheon, under an Other Transactional Authority agreement valued at $47.6 million, will integrate truck-mounted NSMs into the Marine Corps force structure. The deal, according to Kongsberg, will “enhance joint interoperability and reduce Marine Corps cost and logistical burdens.”