It is being reported on dodbuzz.com and informationdissemination.net that a new missile has been selected for the United States' Navy's Littoral Combat Ships (L.C.S.).
The Raytheon Griffin will replace an earlier Raytheon missile system which was recently cancelled after multiple failures.
Details of the Raytheon Griffin missile can be seen at designation-systems.net.
It is of similar size to a man portable anti-tank missile and consequently has a surface launched range of just 3.4 miles.
This is considerably shorter than the cancelled Non Line Of Sight (N.L.O.S.) Precision Attack Missile (P.A.M.) which the Littoral Combat Ships were intended to carry.
N.L.O.S. had a range of about 25 miles.
The very short ranged Griffin will be outranged by almost any potential threat system.
It is also likely to be out ranged by the Littoral Combat Ship's own 57mm and 30mm cannons.
It also has a very small warhead which is likely to be ineffective against any naval vessel.
About the only target this missile will be useful for is small fast boats which generally have weapons which are ineffective at all but the shortest of ranges.
Thankfully there are plans for a longer ranged version at a later stage.
This will still leave these vessels with a less than impressive weapons fit.
They will be of little use against land based threats.
That is an unfortunate quality in a warship meant to fight in the "littorals".
This will still leave these vessels with a less than impressive weapons fit.
They will be of little use against land based threats.
That is an unfortunate quality in a warship meant to fight in the "littorals".
