“Army Long Range Missile Launcher Spotted on Navy Littoral Combat Ship” –USNI

An Army MK 70 missile launcher on the flight deck of Littoral Combat Ship USS Savannah (LCS-28) in San Diego, Calif. Photo obtained by USNI News

The USNI News Service reports,

A portable missile launcher capable of firing a combination of long-range anti-ship and anti-air weapons was spotted this week undergoing testing aboard a Littoral Combat Ship in San Diego, Calif., according to photos provided to USNI News.

Based on a series of photos reviewed by USNI News, the launcher is a Lockheed Martin MK 70 containerized vertical launching system that is capable of firing both a Raytheon Standard Missile 6 and a Tomahawk Land Attack Missile. It was spotted on the flight deck of Independence-class LCS USS Savannah (LCS-28), which was pier-side in San Diego, according to a USNI News review of the images.

If you can operate Army missile launchers from an LCS you can also operate them from a Coast Guard cutter.

This could be particularly useful in Alaska where there are no Navy ships and limited road infrastructure. Launchers could be flown to meet cutters already in Alaskan waters long before Navy ships could reach the area.

6 thoughts on ““Army Long Range Missile Launcher Spotted on Navy Littoral Combat Ship” –USNI

  1. If you put these on a Coast Guard cutter’s flight deck, would there still be enough room for helicopter operations? The Independence Class LCS has an enormous flight deck, so they can easily fit two or more of these launchers and still have plenty of room for helicopter operations. The Independence Class LCS has a beam of 104 feet, almost twice as wide as the Legend-Class cutters, which have a beam of only 54-feet. The LCS doesn’t have to choose between helicopters and containerized missiles, but if the Coast Guard has to choose, I’d think they’d choose helicopters.

    • Depends on the ship and the intended load out.
      The National Security Cutters and presumably the Polar Security Cutters have hangar space for two helicopters. If the container is secured on the flight deck certainly you could not do helo ops. Likely you could not do helo ops on an Independence class either. If the container were on wheels you might be able to wheel it in and out of the hangar and do helo ops when the launcher is hangared.

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