The Littoral Combat Ship USS Milwaukee (LCS-5) conducted a live-fire missile exercise on May 11 that completed the first phase of the LCS Mission Modules (MM) program Surface-to-Surface Mission Module (SSMM) Developmental Testing, the Navy said Wednesday,
The test had the Lockheed Martin [LMT] Freedom-variant LCS fire four Lockheed Martin AGM-114L Longbow Hellfire missiles that successfully hit fast inshore attack surface craft targets off the coast of Virginia.
This was the first integrated firing of the SSM from an LCS and the second at-sea launch of SSMM missiles from an LCS. The Surface-to-Surface Mission Module capability aims to use U.S. Army Longbow Hellfire missiles in a vertical launch capability to counter small boat threats.
The Navy’s first SSMM Hellfire test occurred on the USS Detroit (LCS-7), which similarly included four vertically launched missiles. That earlier test was to confirm the LCS can withstand the blasts from missile shots (Defense Daily, March 7, 2017).
The Navy expects to have initial operational capability (IOC) and fielding of the SSMM system by 2019.
The live-fire exercise scenario was meant to simulate a complex warfighting environment and the ship‘s crew used radar and other systems to track the small surface targets, simulate engagements, and then fire the missiles at the targets.
The SSMM is part of the surface warfare mission module package for LCS. Three different changeable mission packages are being developed as modular systems: surface warfare, anti-submarine warfare, and mine countermeasures missions in littoral areas.
“The east coast littoral combat team continues to grow and mature with two Freedom variant LCS arriving annually in Mayport. We look forward to conducting the next phase of SSMM testing onboard USS Detroit (LCS 7),” Littoral Combat Ship Squadron Two Capt. Shawn Johnston said in a statement.
“The crew of the USS Milwaukee executed superbly and the test team ran the event seamlessly, both were critical in making this event successful,” Capt. Ted Zobel, LCS Mission Modules program manager, added.
The USS Milwaukee is homeported at Naval Station Mayport in Jacksonville, Fla.