It shall take decades to rationalise the United Kingdom's naval and military helicopter fleet,as proposed in earlier posts,but herein we shall outline a short term proposal to increase the utility of the Merlin helicopter.
Royal Navy Wildcat helicopters are capable of firing missiles at surface targets but do not have the sensors needed to hunt submarines.
Royal Navy Merlin helicopters have the sensors needed to hunt submarines but are not capable of firing missiles at surface targets.
However,Italian Navy EH101 helicopters are capable of firing the Marte MK2/S missile at surface targets,a missile which has dimensions similar to or larger than a number of British missiles.
The Sea Venom missile is about two thirds the diameter and length and one third the weight of the Marte MK2/S.
The Martlet missile is about one quarter the diameter,one third the length and one twenty-fourth the weight of the Marte MK2/S.
The Advanced Short Range Air to Air Missile is about half the diameter,three quarters the length and one third the weight of the Marte MK2/S.
The Meteor missile is about half the diameter,of similar length and about two thirds the weight of the Marte MK2/S.
The Merlin can carry four Sting Ray torpedoes which are similar in diameter but two thirds the length and of similar weight to the Marte MK2/S.
The Merlin already has the sensors needed to use these missiles,which are being procured for use by other aircraft,their integration shall allow it to engage sea,air and land targets,either in support of warships at sea or marines ashore,thus considerably increasing the Royal Navy's offensive and defensive capability at little cost.
In future,integration of the Joint New Air to Air Missile shall provide Merlin helicopters with some of the flexibility of our proposed Medium and Long Range Multirole Missiles,as it's sensor is used to engage both aircraft and surface vessels in the Japanese Type 99 Air to Air Missile and the Type 12 Surface-to-Ship Missile.
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