The U.S. Navy has this problem where sinking a ship far away requires all manner of mathematical genius, and extraordinary luck, that really does no more than illuminate its limited strike reach in the first place.

U.S. enemies create large "no go" zones for the Navy, while producing better weapons with longer reach. It's not pretty, as the fleet ages, and budget cuts reign supreme.

DARPA looks to end that with its $71 million award to Lockheed Martin for the modification to Long Range Anti-Ship Missile (LRASM) so that it can perform an air and surface launch, while able to withstand electromagnetic forces trying to drag it off course.

The LRASM is the evolution of the Joint Air-to-Surface Standoff Missile begun in 1998 and costing about $700,000 apiece. That is to say this missile has a history and is designed to be launched from the Mark 41 Vertical Launch System (VLS), and the F-35 Lightning II.

For its most recent test, the LRASM will slip from the B-1 Bone and drive mercilessly toward its target that one can imagine will never see it coming before vaporizing into ancient history.

This is a missile that's been a long time coming and the result of years work and expense, a little enthusiasm seems in order.

Lockheed says:

Armed with a proven penetrator and blast-fragmentation warhead, LRASM cruises autonomously, day or night, in all weather conditions. The missile employs a multi-modal sensor, weapon data link, and an enhanced digital anti-jam Global Positioning System to detect and destroy specific targets within a group of ships.

Something needs to bolster the fleet, and this looks like it could do the trick.

The pics are an illustration from Lockheed (above) on the new missile and an older shot of the Bone with the JASSM-ER that came before.



