Marines Want Missiles To Sink Ships From Shores, And They Want Them Fast

By PAUL MCLEARY

WASHINGTON The Marine Corps has kicked off a rapid development program to begin firing long-range anti-ship missiles from shore-based ground vehicles in an effort to add more punch to the Navy's growing anti-ship capabilities, which are aimed squarely at Chinese and Russian advances.

Dubbed the Navy-Marine Expeditionary Ship Interdiction System — that's NEMSIS to you — the program has completed its design phase. For the missile itself, Marines are looking at

• Lockheed Martin's new Long-Range Anti-Ship Missile (LRASM), with stealthy features to penetrate enemy missile defenses, a 1,000-pound warhead, and a range disclosed only as “over 200 miles”;
• Raytheon's Naval Strike Missile (NSM) already chosen as an upgrade for Navy Littoral Combat Ships, with a 264-lb warhead and a 115-mile range;
• and Boeing's venerable Harpoon, whose variants have a 500-lb warhead and ranges between 70 and 150 miles.

The program kicked off last year with a request for information (RFI), after which companies signed OTA agreements with the service in September. Final proposals were submitted in December.

Full article: https://breakingdefense.com/2019/01/marines-want-missiles-to-sink-ships-from-shores-and-they-want-them-fast/