The US Naval Air Systems Command (NAVAIR) has, meanwhile, awarded Lockheed Martin a contract for the final development, integration and early operational capability for the company’s AGM-158C Long Range Anti-Ship Missile (LRASM). Boeing is proposing the new AGM-84 Next Generation version as an update kit providing the missile with a range exceeding 134nm. The first launch of the AGM-84C1 Harpoon from the USS Coronado. An over-the-horizon missile capability Request For Proposals (RfP) is slated for release by the end of 2016, with the expected participation of Boeing, Raytheon/Kongsberg and Lockheed Martin. Boeing has already ‘fundamentally’ demonstrated the in-service AGM-84 Block-1C missile integration with a live firing in July 2016 onboard the USS Coronado ‘Independence’ class LCS. More recently identified as AGM-84 Harpoon Block-II Extended Range (ER), this weapon is being proposed to meet the US Navy’s urgent requirement to equip the force’s ‘Freedom’ and ‘Independence’ class Littoral Combat Ships (LCS) and the force’s new Fast Frigate (FF) programme with an over-the-horizon missile. These enhancements, together with the AGM-84 Block-II missile’s data link and missile guidance system, doubles the missile range from 67 nautical miles/nm (124 kilometres/km) to more than 134nm (248.2km). During the US Navy League Sea-Air-Space symposium in April 2015, Boeing unveiled the AGM-84 Harpoon Next Generation as an upgrade kit for existing AGM-84 family weapons which includes a more fuel-efficient engine, additional fuel and a smaller 297 pound/lb (135 kilogram/kg) warhead. With the US Navy fleet fielding expected in the fourth quarter of 2017 onboard the F/A-18E/F, to be followed by Boeing P-8A Poseidon maritime patrol aircraft in the 2021 timeframe, the new version will join the Raytheon AGM-154C1 Joint Stand-Off Weapon as the US Navy’s only two air-to-ground network-enable weapons. The AGM-84 Block-II+ provides a rapid-capability enhancement that include a new guidance navigation unit with GPS enhancements to the reliability and survivability of the weapon a new data link that enables in-flight updates, improved target selectivity, an abort option and enhanced resistance to electronic countermeasures. The AGM-84 Block-II missile is employed by 29 foreign militaries, acknowledges the US Naval Air Systems Command (NAVAIR). About 20 years later, an advanced upgrade was introduced by Boeing with the AGM-84 Block-II, which incorporated a GPS (Global Positioning System) assisted Inertial Navigation System, enabling the missile to have both an anti-ship and a land attack capability.
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