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Old 07-01-18, 02:22 PM   #9
I dunno
Swabbie
 
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In today's CIWS-infested world, sub-Harpoon makes very little sense for a submarine, particularly for the USN who have the ADCAP. The ADCAP is more than capable of chasing down and sinking practically any ship within proper identification range, with much less exposure of the firing platform, greater lethality, and greater survivability than the Harpoon.
This effectively means you've got far more stowed kills with a torpedo room full of ADCAPs, with less chance of being counter-detected to boot.
TASM was always a problematic weapon, being a Tomahawk with a Harpoon seeker and pattern-seach ability. The weapon far outranged the sub's sensors, and with the end of the Soviet threat was useless and therefore retired to replace TLAMs as already mentioned ITT.
IIRC the new Blk IV Tomahawks are supposed to have IIR target seekers for better pinpoint targeting, on which the ASM mission will be piggybacked. The ability to redirect in flight as a networked weapon and target recognition solve many of the problems with the original TASM, though CIWS remains an issue and it will probably be limited to engaging softer targets (AO/AOR/AOE/LST/LKA/LPD). CIWS-equipped ships will need more modern missiles, such as the NSM (which is having a sub-launched version developed) or the LRASM; or, of course, torpedoes.
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