The Navy is poised to launch an analysis to define a Tomahawk cruise missile replacement, one of two planned multibillion dollar acquisition efforts central to the service's new cruise missile strategy which also calls for a full-and-open competition to replace the Harpoon anti-ship missile. These two modernization efforts form the backbone of what the Navy in its fiscal year 2017 budget request has branded the Next-Generation Strike Capability. It is a newly codified policy that aims to provide a logical roadmap for cruise missile acquisition, an area where the service - arguably for the last four years - lacked coherence. The two new programs are the Next-Generation Land Attack Weapon, which will also provide an ancillary capability to sink ships and be launched from submarines and ship canisters; the other program is the Offensive Anti-surface Warfare Increment 2 program, to provide air-launch, anti-ship missile capability.
展开▼
