Boeing Awarded Contract For Next-Generation Harpoon Block III Missile

Peter Skelton wrote:

:On Sun, 03 Feb 2008 15:36:50 -0700, Fred J. McCall
wrote:
:
:Peter Skelton wrote:
:
::On Sun, 03 Feb 2008 13:43:58 -0700, Fred J. McCall
wrote:
::
::Peter Skelton wrote:
::
:::On Sun, 03 Feb 2008 08:53:26 -0700, Fred J. McCall
wrote:
:::
:::Peter Skelton wrote:
:::
::::On Sat, 02 Feb 2008 19:06:22 -0700, Fred J. McCall
wrote:
::::
::::"dott.Piergiorgio" wrote:
::::
:::::Fred J. McCall ha scritto:
:::::
::::: Why? What does it get you? The missile is already 20x faster than
::::: what you're shooting it at.
:::::
::::: Capability isn't free. If you want a supersonic anti-ship missile, it
::::: has to be bigger (which means you can carry fewer of them), fly higher
::::: (to escape reflections of its own shockwave from the surface), etc.
:::::
:::::
:::::As I understand, very high speed in ASuW missiles is conceived as
:::::counter-measure against CIWS systems, on the basis of reducing the
:::::available reaction time.
:::::
::::
::::I know it's viewed that way, but does it really buy you anything? You
::::pick it up farther away (because it has to fly higher and is larger)
::::and you have many fewer missiles to use to try to overload a defensive
::::sector (again, because the missiles must be much larger).
::::
::::And, of course, a larger, hotter missile is also easier to hit once
::::you detect it...
::::
::::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.
::::
:::
:::I'm not sure what missiles you're talking about.
:::
:::The standard family for certain, I'm not sure how much other kit
:::has been upgraded.
:::
::
::I don't believe they are nearly as long-ranged as Harpoon when they
::are used in the anti-ship mode. One of the things you give up for
::supersonic speed is range (you burn the fuel grain much faster) unless
::you make them very, very large.
::
::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.
::
:
:No, it doesn't have to be that way at all. Air resistance matters.
:What altitude the rocket nozzle is optimized for matters. Flight
:profile matters.
:
:
:Straight down is always achievable
:

But hitting something that way isn't.


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