"Paul J. Adam" wrote:

:In message , Peter Skelton
writes
:Aren't the small, modified AA missles supersonic, small and about
:as long-ranged as harpoon? They've a much smaller punch -
:nothing's free, as you say, but they'd be likely to hit against
:current defenses.
:
:SAMs in surface mode can be pretty effective. During Preying Mantis, an
:Iranian FAC fired a Harpoon at a USN surface action group (it missed or
:was decoyed, opinions vary) and won half-a-dozen Standards and a Harpoon
:in return. The Standards made such a mess of the Joshan that the Harpoon
:didn't hit: the wreck was so low in the water that the Harpoon either
:couldn't lock, or overflew.
:
:Harpoon gets you range (~60-70 miles compared to the horizon) and a much
:bigger warhead, but for the inshore battle there's a lot to be said for
:the speed and selectivity of a semi-active SAM.
:

If by "AA missiles" you're talking about SAMs (when I see "AA missile"
I think "air-to-air missile"), then I know what you're talking about.

Before Harpoon fielded there were ships out there with a system called
ISM. It was essentially a modified Standard Missile fired in an
anti-ship mode and was put out there to 'fill the gap' until Harpoon
was available.

There are, of course, trade offs in using a missile designed to attack
aircraft and other missiles to attack ships.


--
"Death is my gift." -- Buffy, the Vampire Slayer