"Dean A. Markley" wrote:

:Peter Skelton wrote:
:snipped
:
: They are longer ranged in anti-ship mode than in anti-air - it
: has to be that way, the height it has in AA mode at maximum range
: is available as energy to get out farther at the surface. SM2 ER
: should be good to 90 sea miles.
:
: That doesn't mean targeting and sensors work that way, the world
: being curved and all.
:
: (I'm not sure that these are usefully smaller than harpoon - the
: diameter of both is 13.5")
:
: Peter Skelton
:
:A quick search reveals the following:
:

Should have searched a bit slower. Let me correct:

:
:Harpoon weight of 1145 lbs Max Speed = 530mph
:

That's the weight for the air-launch Harpoon. If you launch it from a
ship it weighs almost 1500 pounds.

:
:SM2 weight of 2980 lbs(don't know if this includes booster) Max Speed =
:1900mph
:

That's the weight for the ER version. It's over 26 feet long and I
don't believe we currently have any ships that fire it. The MR
version of SM-2 weighs around 1400 pounds.

Oh, and that 1900 MPH is at altitude. It's going to be slower down in
denser air.

:
:Now the Harpoon carries a much larger warhead but the SM2 is heavier and
:impacts at a much higher speed. Is it reasonable to make a SWAG that a
:Standard SM2 will inflict as much or more damage?
:
:After all, speed kills....
:

By the time they reach the target, Harpoon is probably heavier
(because of the heavier warhead). A lot of that weight in the
Standard round is fuel.

Speed isn't what kills. That's why we put warheads on the things.


--
"Millions for defense, but not one cent for tribute."
-- Charles Pinckney