The Influence of History

The RIM-66 SM-2MR in its boost phase One of the less appreciated aspects of naval warfare is how the same weapon can have rather different capabilities depending on the combat system controlling it. The neglect of this point is somewhat remarkable given that the importance of combat systems was made obvious well over a hundred years ago with the introduction of centralized fire control. But this post is about the RIM-66/RIM-67/RIM-156 SM-2 - the mainstay of Western naval air defense. This missile has been integrated with a variety of combat systems including Aegis, Terrier, and Tartar, as well as several foreign systems, but it actually functions in rather different ways depending on which system is controlling it. As is widely known, SM-2 represented a massive advance over its predecessor (SM-1) because of its use of a programmable autopilot. This allowed SM-2 to fly a more efficient ballistic trajectory, almost doubling its range, as well as time share illuminators, allowing a...

As the US Navy's FFG(X) program heats up, I've been digging through the Navy's FY19 budget submission to get an idea of various costs trade offs involved in designing a modern "medium end" warship. While none of the information that I have found is particularly revolutionary, I thought I would post my conclusions were still worth posting. Today, the Navy only has two active production lines for surface combatants - the DDG-51 Flight III  Arleigh Burke  and the LCS Flight II Freedom / Independence . However, since these two designs are on opposite ends of the spectrum (one widely acknowledged as the most capable warship in the world and the other routinely criticized for its lack of capability), comparing them directly is remarkably valuable. A DDG-51 Flight III has an official Gross Unit Cost of $1,747 million while an LCS Flight II is $565 million (all figures in this post are an average of the 7 DDG or 6 LCS in FY17-19). However, the actual amount spent p...