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Jeff Head said:

The US is capable of having both.

For decades they had the Tomahawk and the Harpoon, even when the ASM Tomahawk was deployed.

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RGM/UGM-109B Tomahawk

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(TASM) –

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variant; withdrawn from service in the 1990s.

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As a young TLAM engagement officer, I recall that doctrine for its employment was rather squishy and we tended to either wish away or just ignore the over-the-horizon targeting problem which would be required to successfully employ this missile at its maximum range of more than 200 NM, especially if neutral shipping was present. Complicating the targeting problem was the weapon’s early 70’s era Harpoon active radar seeker and subsonic speed, which would enable an enemy ship traveling at thirty knots to move more than twelve miles from when the TASM was launched. Because of these limitations, the TASM was withdrawn from the fleet later in the 1990s.

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... the new "TASM" will use advanced targeting features including ESM and an Active Electronically Scanned Millimeter wave radar seeker. More important is the two-way UHF SATCOM data link which will allow for cueing and updated tracking of targets in conjunction with

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, manned ISR, or SOF during the missile's long flight. These improvements will mitigate some of the challenges in firing the missiles over-the-horizon, especially against targets in crowded litoral seas. Also critical is the flexibility of these missiles to still be employed in their traditional strike mission, saving space in surface and sub VLS magazines.

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test bd said:

I'd like to remind everyone that the carrier is the capital ship of the US Navy and Super Hornets/Hornets can deliver ordanance on target. Including targeting ships at sea.

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test bd said:

A JDAM will ruin any bad guys day..

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thunderchief said:

... There are reasons why armed forces across the world prefer unified platforms, sometimes even sacrificing some of the capabilities .

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Jura said:

I appreciate this reminder, since this is what I thought: hostile ships would be engaged by US naval aircraft whenever possible (and by US Navy ships only in case there was no other option) ... by I'm just an armchair-admiral

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SeaWaves said:

August 3, 2015 - The Lockheed Martin, U.S. Navy and Missile Defense Agency 's Aegis Combat System took part in a successful four-event test of the combat system's air warfare (AW) and ballistic missile defense (BMD) capabilities. The Multi-mission Warfare (MMW) tests, conducted aboard USS JOHN PAUL JONES (DDG-53), began on July 28 and ended August 1.

The latest iteration of the Aegis configuration for destroyers, called Baseline 9.C1, also includes the most current generation of ballistic missile defense programming, known as BMD 5.0 CU. The MMW events were designed to verify performance of recent BMD upgrades. Over the course of the four MMW events, Aegis flawlessly detected, tracked, and engaged two Ballistic Missile and two air warfare targets. Each event resulted in the successful intercept of a single target.

This test series also marks the first endo-atmospheric (lower atmosphere) engagement of a Ballistic Missile target to demonstrate a Baseline 9.C1 capability. This capability allows Aegis to engage ballistic missiles in their terminal phase--as they re-enter the endo-atmosphere--which is the last opportunity to intercept the warhead before it reaches its target.

"Each generation of the Aegis Combat System adds new capabilities to keep pace with emerging threats, and these tests were really designed to demonstrate the compatibility of new BMD capabilities with the entire system," said Paul Klammer, Lockheed Martin's director of the Aegis Ballistic Missile Defense program. "Tremendous credit goes to the crew of USS JOHN PAUL JONES, who really put forth a great effort under challenging test conditions to demonstrate the extraordinary capabilities their ship can bring to defending our nation."

Aegis Baseline 9 provides the U.S. Navy surface fleet with the most advanced air defense capability ever. Under the Baseline 9 configuration, Aegis merges BMD and anti-air warfare into its Integrated Air and Missile Defense (IAMD) capability using commercial-off-the-shelf and open architecture technologies.

The central component of the Lockheed Martin-developed Aegis BMD Combat System is the SPY-1 radar, deployed on more than 100 ships worldwide-- the most widely fielded naval phased array radar in the world. SPY-1 capability has been greatly enhanced with the introduction of a new Multi-Mission Signal Processor (MMSP). Together, the Aegis system, MMSP and SPY-1 radar provide the U.S. and allied nations with advanced surveillance and an unprecedented IAMD capability.

As Aegis Combat Systems Engineering Agent, Lockheed Martin leads the ongoing development of the weapon system for the U.S. Navy and Missile Defense Agency. Lockheed Martin pioneered the open-architecture software design of Aegis and each new program developed for Aegis becomes part of the Aegis Common Source Library, which allows the U. S. Navy and Missile Defense Agency to affordably and efficiently re-use and upgrade Aegis programing across a variety of defense platforms.

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Two companies have each gotten another $6.5 million to continue developing their concepts for the United States military's XS-1 robotic space plane.

The Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) awarded Boeing and Northrop Grumman the additional funds for work under "Phase 1B" of the

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program. The two companies, along with Masten Space Systems, had received money in summer 2014 for initial "Phase 1" design work. (Boeing and Northrop Grumman got about $4 million then, while Masten received $3 million.)

The additional $6.5 million will allow Boeing to "continue the development of the XS-1 demonstration concept, substantiating identified core component technologies, mitigating risk, developing a Technology Maturation Plan (TMP), and performing several demonstration tasks," Boeing's

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. Completion of these tasks is expected by August 2016. [

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]

DARPA wants the reusable XS-1 — short for Experimental Spaceplane-1 — to make it easier and cheaper to get satellites to orbit. Eventually, the unmanned vehicle should be able to fly 10 times in a 10-day span and launch 3,000- to 5,000-lb. (1,361 to 2,268 kilograms) payloads for less than $5 million per mission, agency officials have said.

"Northrop Grumman is focusing on the core DARPA hard parts of XS-1 — 10 launches in 10 days and bringing payloads to LEO [low-Earth orbit]," Doug Young, vice president of Space Systems Resiliency at Northrop Grumman, said in a statement provided to Space.com.

"This is the forcing function to achieve the rapid launch capabilities needed for resiliency," Young added. "This kind of reliable space access is critical for many defense needs, and something we must have as space becomes more contested. The $6.5 million award we received from DARPA for the Phase 1B study will allow us to advance some really unique ideas for making this strategic requirement a reality."

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Scratch said:

Then again, I would guess that on certain occaisions, a bunch of LRASMs, "accompanying" a strike package that can do the targeting, EW, SEAD/DEAD with HARMs and MALDs and deliver some shorter range AShMs (like an air-launched NSM) can greatly complement that strike packge.

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• would take hours as compared to minutes of flying;
• could bring about submarine attacks (ships would have to be escorted, either making the Task Force huge, or weakening the CVBG escort ...)

Jura said:

LRS-B news:
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The Air Force will likely spend more than $30 billion to overhaul its nuclear arsenal over the next four years, according to a report from Congress’ top watchdog that quoted Defense Department estimates.

Between this year and 2019, the service expects to spend $16.7 billion on operations, maintenance and personnel costs; $15.5 billion on research and development; and $2.5 billion on procurement and construction costs, according to a report released by the Government Accountability Office.

But that budget estimate is likely to increase throughout the 2020s, as the Air Force begins purchasing and operating its next-generation Long Range Strategic Bomber to join and eventually replace the B-52 and B-2.

Designed to carry both conventional and nuclear payloads, the new bomber could cost the Defense Department almost $22 billion between 2020 and 2024, the GAO report said, quoting a DoD estimate.

The Air Force is also looking to its long-range standoff missile program in an effort to keep air-launched cruise missiles operational through 2030, the report said. But this year the Pentagon decided to delay that update until at least 2018 to focus on other priorities first.

The GAO report is an evaluation of a May 2014 estimate released by DoD and Energy Department analyzing costs for updating the nation’s nuclear weapons and capabilities. As part of the 2012 National Defense Authorization Act, the two agencies are required to submit annual budget reports to Congress on nuclear upgrades.

GAO said the nation’s nuclear infrastructure needs an overhaul.

“The strategic missiles, submarines, aircraft, and the nuclear weapons carried by these delivery systems are aging and being deployed beyond their intended service lives,” the report said. “Key National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA) nuclear weapons research, development, and production facilities date back to the 1940’s and 1950’s, and…require modernization to ensure a safe, secure, and effective nuclear arsenal.”

DoD and DoE estimate the government will spend nearly $300 billion on nuclear weapons and capabilities between 2014 and 2024.

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Jura said:

I see ... but ships would have to "close up" to launch, which

• would take hours as compared to minutes of flying;
• could bring about submarine attacks (ships would have to be escorted, either making the Task Force huge, or weakening the CVBG escort ...)

or not?

EDIT
plus the "mid-course correction" needed
https://www.sinodefenceforum.com/us-military-news-reports-data-etc.t1547/page-435#post-356322
requiring helicopters (?) ... an airplane can do it by itself, right?

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