Quote:
|
Originally Posted by SeaQueen
One of the things they have been trying to sell is a verticle launch, encapsulated AIM-9X. The thing is, nobody is quite sure what they'd really do with it. So... things being what they are, the funded R&D of it as a possible new weapon system (the Navy is all about new toys), but it lacks CONOPS. The concensus in the submarine community is that depth is their best defense against aircraft. So, they're thinking all kinds of weird things, "uhm.... air defense for SOF? uhm... outer air battle?" Who knows? Personally, I think it'll be a neat PowerPoint slide, but nothing will actually reach the fleet.
|
Well, what Raytheon is proporting is that the AIM-9 series is pretty established, and the VLS sytems are pretty established, so why not bring two established systems together to see if they will work together? Just some software modifications & a cheap launch capsule and its ready for testing.
I think the CONOPs is that if a ASW aircraft has already detected you, last layer defense is to blow him up before he can drop a torp. Or if he's already dropped a torp, then evade and blow him out the water before he can drop another one. There's a pretty good chance that the submarine communities current concensus is such because.... its the only option they're ever had...
