LCS tests Hellfire modification

The Littoral Combat Ship program office has begun a series of surface warfare-mission tests on its modified Longbow Hellfire missile from a surrogate test platform. The SW mission package reached initial operational capability in November with its 30mm gun and 11-meter rigid hull inflatable boats. The Navy-chosen Lockheed Martin AGM-114L Longbow Hellfire radar-guided missile would be used to counter fast inshore attack craft threats. The missiles were acquired from the Army and designed to launch horizontally. Modifications were made to create a vertical launch configuration. The first of several test-runs was in late February and it was a success. (Source: U.S. Naval Institute News 03/05/15) Gulf Coast note: The LCS mine countermeasures (MCM) mission package testing is preparing for final operational tests later this year. Program officials have embarked the MCM package onto USS Independence (LCS 2) for a technical evaluation underway in the Gulf of Mexico off the coast of Pensacola, Fla. Afterwards, the program plans to conduct initial operational test and evaluation in July. Austal USA in Mobile, Ala., builds the Independence class of LCS.