Royal Australian Navy Discussions and Updates 2.0

M

Morgo

Well-Known Member
Pusser01 said:
They potentially could be updated & kept as warstock for the RAAF P-8's & F/A-18F's aswell as the Collins class. Once surface ships have changed over to NSM, they aren't capable of carrying Harpoon again. The changeover involves swapping over wiring, the console in the ops room aswell as the launcher. The old Harpoon launchers are then scrapped due to ITAR.
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Containerise the launchers and stick them on the back of an Arafura?
 
Todjaeger

Todjaeger

Potstirrer
Morgo said:
Containerise the launchers and stick them on the back of an Arafura?
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It could be argued that the Mk 141 quad Harpoon missile launchers already are containerized. Fitting Harpoons to the Arafura-class might just end up making the OPV's into more viable targets without appreciably increasing their use in the event of hostilities.

Further, if the current missiles or at least parts of them, are approaching the end-of-service life, then coin would still be required to ensure that will go, "bang," if/when needed.
 
StingrayOZ

StingrayOZ

Super Moderator
Staff member
Harpoons are probably still very useful with subs. I don't know how many encapsulations we have, but the biggest issue with Harpoon, being range, is less of an issue with a sub. Also the lack of advanced stealth features, are less of an issue when attacking less well defended land targets, for ships torpedoes are still pretty stealthy.

Superhornets, P8 and subs mean that that is decent number of platforms. I don't think we will be upgrading them, but I also think we aren't yet ready to get rid of them. If NSM becomes sub launched, and LRASM JSM becoming P8, and Superhornets are getting decommissioned, then it would be useful to get rid of them.

Not sure how useful they would be for Ukraine either. there would be other allies in the region that may appreciate bolting a launcher or reloads if required.
 
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