Page 46 - Australian Defence Magazine April-May 2021

46 SEA POWER MISSILES
APRIL-MAY 2021 | WWW.AUSTRALIANDEFENCE.COM.AU
“AS FAR AS THE SHIP-LAUNCHED LONG RANGE LAND
ATTACK MISSILE IS CONCERNED, ONLY RAYTHEON’S BGM-109E BLOCK IV OR BLOCK V TOMAHAWK APPEAR ABLE TO MEET THE 1,500KM REQUIREMENT.”
Defence Minister Linda Reynolds disclosed in Septem- ber 2020 that the Aegis upgrade program will get underway in 2024.
Informed sources describe this as a substantial undertak- ing that could take as long as two years for each ship (see this month’s From the Source interview with Chief of Navy Vice Admiral Michael Noonan for more on this). This will include a full cycle docking, the Aegis combat system upgrade includ- ing elements of new technology, a new layout for the ship’s’ combat operations centre, and Aegis lightoff tests and trials.
The RAN’s long-range anti-surface warfare capability is sorely in need of a boost, depending as it has since the 1980s on the seaskimming but subsonic RGM-84A Har- poon with a range of approximately 124 kilometre and a 227 kilogram warhead. The Block II missile now aboard the Hobart and Anzac classes and Collins-class submarines also has a limited land-attack capability.
By comparison, China’s seaskimming YJ-18 antiship mis- sile, also capable of land attack, is supersonic in the attack phase and has an estimated range of 537 kilometres – with obvious implications. The ship and submarine-launched weapon features a 300 kilogram high explosive warhead, or an anti-radiation warhead designed to destroy electronics at short range.
IMPORTING CAPABILITY
In February 2020 the US Defence and Security Coopera- tion Agency (DCSA) announced the US State Department had approved the possible sale to Australia of up to 200 AGM-158C, Long Range Anti-Ship Missiles (LRASMs) at an estimated cost of US$990 million.
The Australian request included up to 11 ATM-158C LRASM telemetry variants, as well as extensive technical and logistic support services. Intended acquisition of the weapon was later confirmed in the 2020 Defence Strategy Update and Force Structure Plan.
In February this year the US Air Force disclosed it had awarded a US$414.2 million contract to Lockheed Martin for the production of 137 LRASMs for an unnamed foreign military sales (FMS) customer, almost certainly Australia.
Although the award notice stated the missiles would come from Lots 4 and 5, the largest production contract in the
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