Flight test success for anti-ship cruise missile

Lockheed Martin's Long Range Anti-Ship Missile navigated through planned waypoints with in-flight targeting updates in its third flight test.

In the test, the anti-ship weapon was released from an Air Force B-1B bomber over the Sea Range at Point Mugu, Calif., as part of a Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency, U.S. Air Force and U.S. Navy joint-service LRASM program and received its targeting updates through a weapon data link while in low-altitude flight.

The missile performed as expected, Lockheed Martin said.

"LRASM continues to prove its maturity and capabilities in this flight test program," said Mike Fleming, LRASM air launch program director at Lockheed Martin Missiles and Fire Control. "This much-needed weapon seeks to provide a new capability that would enable deep strike in previously denied battle environments."

The LASRM is a cruise missile and will replace the current Harpoon weapon system employed by the Navy since the late 1970s.