First LCS OTH in ’19 budget request

As the competition to provide over-the-horizon (OTH) missile capability for the Littoral Combat Ship (LCS) draws to a close, the Navy is budgeting $18M to buy the launch systems for the yet-to-be chosen weapon and eight missiles, according to the president’s budget request for FY 2019. Plans for the next five years show ramp-up buys for LCS to receive the new capability and eventually deploy with it: 12 LCS OTHs each year from FY-20/22, and 20 in FY-23. LCS is nearing the end of production (32 ships), but is planning to use the OTH on its successor, the new frigate (FF(X)). The Navy has opened competition for the frigate design. A winner is expected to be chosen by April. The likely winner of the OTH contract is the Naval Strike Missile, submitted by Raytheon and Norway’s Kongsberg. The anti-ship warhead, with a range of about 100 miles, was tested successfully in 2014 from the USS Coronado (LCS 4). According to Adm. Harry Harris Jr., commander of U.S. Pacific Command, the missile will be employed by the Army in the joint Rim of the Pacific exercise later this year, when the Army is to fire it from shore to sink a ship. (Source: Military.com 02/13/18) Gulf Coast Note: Even-numbered LCS hulls – like Coronado – are Independence variants built by Austal USA in Mobile, Ala. Adm. Harris is a graduate of Pensacola, Fla.’s Booker T. Washington High School.