World · North America · 11 hrs ago
US plans to equip B-52 bombers with anti-ship missiles
The US Navy plans to have Lockheed Martin integrate its LRASM anti-ship missile onto B-52 bombers.
The B-52 is a long-range aircraft first developed in the 1950s, and it already carries a related missile designed to attack land targets.
LRASM is designed to find and attack warships, including moving ships, using autonomous guidance.
The planned integration is not complete, and the targeting software and operational testing still need substantial work.
If the plan succeeds, each B-52 could carry a payload comparable to the roughly 20 land-attack missiles it can carry now.
The Navy currently launches LRASM from submarines, surface ships and strike aircraft, each of which has limits on range or missile capacity.
B-52s could give the Navy another way to launch many missiles over long distances, but the bombers would still need to get within about 200 miles of their targets and could need support because they are not stealthy.
The Navy’s next steps are to arrange the integration work and complete testing; no operational deployment date is given.
The US plans to integrate the Long-Range Anti-Ship Missile (LRASM) into B-52 bombers, according to Interesting Engineering.
The Navy is expected to contract Lockheed Martin for the integration work.
The plan is not an announcement that B-52s are already equipped to carry LRASM.
The B-52 could carry a payload similar to its current JASSM load, which is around 20 missiles per aircraft.
The bombers would offer long-range capacity, but would need to approach within about 200 miles of targets to launch LRASM.
- Who
- The US Navy and Lockheed Martin are involved in the planned integration; B-52 bombers would carry the missiles.
- What
- The plan is to integrate LRASM anti-ship missiles into B-52 bombers.
- When
- Not stated.
- Where
- Not stated.
- Why
- The plan could give the Navy more capacity to attack maritime targets at long range.
This story does not have two clearly opposing sides.
A handful of B-52s will be able to deliver more weapons on maritime targets and do so over much longer ranges than the Navy’s carrier-based aircraft per day.
As a precise, stealthy and survivable cruise missile, LRASM provides multiservice, multiplatform, and multimission capabilities for offensive anti-surface warfare.
By leveraging Lockheed Martin’s expertise in successful cruise missile productions, LRASM brings low-risk and long-term, flexible capabilities to the warfighters’ anti-surface warfare environment that no other inventory weapon provides.
This story does not have a timeline yet.
- Missile
- AGM-158C Long-Range Anti-Ship Missile (LRASM)
- Aircraft
- B-52 Stratofortress
- Potential payload
- Around 20 missiles per airframe, based on the B-52’s current JASSM load
- LRASM range
- About 200 miles (320 km)
- Contract
- The Navy is expected to contract Lockheed Martin for the planned integration
Sources
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