Lockheed Martin [LMT] said July 21 that it has fired the surface-launched variant of its Long Range Anti-Ship Missile (LRASM) from a moving ship for the first time.
During the test, which occurred July 18 at Point Mugu Sea Range, Calif., the missile took off from an MK 41 Vertical Launch System aboard the Navy’s Self Defense Test Ship, the ex-Paul F. Foster. The missile cleanly separated from its booster and flew at a low altitude as planned, the company said. No target was involved.
The test was the third overall for the surface-launched LRASM. The two previous tests occurred on land in 2013 and 2014.
Lockheed Martin is positioning LRASM as a contender in the Navy’s potential over-the-horizon missile competition for the Littoral Combat Ship (LCS) frigate variant. The air-launched LRASM is already being integrated on the Navy’s F/A-18E/F Super Hornet and the Air Force’s B-1B bomber.
The surface-launched LRASM could go up against the Kongsberg [KOG] Naval Strike Missile (NSM), which Norway has operated since 2012. Kongsberg and Raytheon [RTN] said July 13 that they are finalizing plans to build and test NSM in the United States.