Lockheed Martin have successfully demonstrated the latest variant of its new launching system that maximizes the use of existing hardware and electronics to reduce the integration costs of weapons by more than 50 per cent.
During a test
conducted in last month at the Royal Australian Air Force’s Woomera Test
Range in South Australia, the new Extensible
Launching System (ExLS) standalone variant successfully fired two Nulka
Offboard Countermeasure missile decoy test rounds.
Developed in 10 months, the new ExLS variant offers an alternative for
vertically launched weapons on surface ships that are not equipped with a
vertical launching system (VLS), such as a MK 41 or MK 57.
The ExLS standalone variant is ideally suited for smaller vessel classes.
Installed below deck, the new launcher acts as an adapter between the canister of a missile or munition and its qualified electronics, and the ship’s existing weapons system, significantly reducing the integration costs for individual weapons.
“As initially
envisioned, Lockheed Martin’s original ExLS worked with ships equipped with
either MK 41 or MK 57 Vertical Launch Systems, and we saw an opportunity expand
the capability,” said Colleen Arthur, director of Integrated Defense Systems
for Lockheed Martin's Mission System & Sensors business.
“With new standalone ExLS configuration, ships do not have to be equipped with
a larger vertical launching system and can quickly and affordably adapt to
different types of munitions.”
The original ExLS was designed to reduce the cost of integrating new missiles and munitions into a ship’s existing VLS.
ExLS fits inside a VLS cell, serving as an adapter between the new weapon and the MK 41 or MK 57 launcher.
The test in Australia also successfully demonstrated the system’s Nulka munition adapter – a unique feature that enables the missile decoy to quickly and cost-effectively be inserted into ExLS.
Adapters can also be developed for other missiles and munitions.