U.S. Must Deploy Anti-Ship Missile Soon in Asia, Admiral Says

Source: Bloomberg

The U.S. should deploy a new anti-ship missile made by Lockheed Martin Corp. as quickly as possible to counter improved Chinese and Russian naval capabilities in Asian waters, the top U.S. Pacific commander said.

Lockheed’s air-launched Long Range Anti-Ship Missile is a “great capability we need to bring on line fast,” Admiral Harry Harris told the Senate Armed Services Committee Tuesday. He spoke hours before Secretary of State John Kerry was to meet at the State Department with China’s Foreign Minister Wang Yi, as each country has accused the other of escalating military tensions in the western Pacific.

The anti-ship missile, known by its acronym LRASM, is included the proposed Pentagon budget for fiscal 2017 as part of $8.1 billion to improve U.S. naval and underwater combat technologies. Defense Secretary Ash Carter highlighted the spending request last month as key to countering improved Russian and Chinese weapons and vessels.

The Navy plans to buy the first 24 of the Lockheed anti-ship missiles next year and 464 through 2021. They are scheduled to be put on B-1B bombers starting in September 2018 and on Navy F/A-18E/F fighters a year later, according to Pentagon budget documents.

Read more: http://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2016-02-23/u-s-must-deploy-anti-ship-missile-soon-in-asia-admiral-says