The U.S.-China military rivalry is getting hotter by the day! As China’s influence on regional security grows, the United States is actively seeking ways to respond. The U.S. has been working with the U.S. Department of Defense to develop a new type of anti-ship missile, the Long Range Anti-Ship Missile.
The F-16 fighter jet is mounted with anti-ship missiles. (Photo/reproduced from Baidu)
The National Interest magazine, an American diplomatic and security journal, reported recently that the title of the article is “Chinese Communist Party Beware, the U.S. Marine Corps’ Stealthy New Ship Killer”, mentioning that the U.S. Navy and Air Force signed a contract with Lockheed Martin to purchase the company’s Long Range Anti-Ship Missile. The agreement, worth $414 million, is the largest long-range anti-ship missile contract in the history of Lockheed’s missile program and includes 137 missiles, training and logistics support, and additional long-range anti-ship missile support equipment.
The U.S. Navy is determined to address the survivability and range of the most used Harpoon missile, the AGM-84 anti-ship missile, which was fielded in 1979 and is the primary anti-ship weapon in service with the U.S. Navy and Air Force, and can be launched from aircraft, surface warships and submarines. The newest addition to the list is the LRASM, a much more powerful stealthy and lethal missile.
The first of these is the “Harpoon” anti-ship missile, which is a ship killer. (Photo/reproduced from Baidu)
Lockheed explained that this advanced missile is specifically designed to find and destroy specific ships; however, why does the U.S. Marine Corps need a long-range anti-ship missile? The National Interest article answers with one word: China (Communist Party of China)! According to the article, the Marines and Navy are not only spending money on increasingly sophisticated weaponry, but they are also reevaluating the way they conduct warfare.
General David Berger, the top leader of the U.S. Marine Corps, believes that a well-trained Marine Corps can help the Navy hunt down and sink Chinese Communist submarines. The Marines are taking a break from the grueling land campaign in the Middle East to prepare for operations in the Pacific; the long-range anti-ship missile could first complement and then replace the Harpoon anti-ship missile, which has long been the U.S. standard ship killer. The long-range anti-ship missile will enable the U.S. Navy to take a giant leap forward in strength.
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