France progresses naval asset protection programme
A dozen speedboats are being built for the French Navy by Ufast to avoid a USS Cole-style attack.
USS Gabrielle Giffords fires NSM
USS Gabrielle Giffords fired the Naval Strike Missile on 19 March. (Photo: USN)
Naval Strike Missile is equipping Independence-variant Littoral Combat Ships for the USN.
The Independence-class Littoral Combat Ship (LCS) USS Gabrielle Giffords has successfully launched the Naval Strike Missile (NSM) in a shipboard operational testing and evaluation exercise, the USN announced on 30 March.
‘The successful missile shoot [on 19 March] demonstrates value for long-range anti-ship cruise missiles aboard LCS,’ the USN claimed.
NSM is a long-range precision strike weapon that flies at sea-skimming altitude, has a terrain-following capability and uses an advanced seeker for precise targeting.
NSM was fired from an LCS in 2014 at the Point Mugu test range in California.
Shephard Defence Insight notes that the USN picked NSM in June 2018 as its over-the-horizon missile solution for LCS and future frigates. It was pitched for this purpose by NSM developer Kongsberg and Raytheon.
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