An Air Force Boeing P-8A Poseidon maritime surveillance aircraft has fired a Harpoon anti-ship missile for the first time this week.
The weapon was an ATM-84J, an inert training version of the Harpoon, and it was launched from the aircraft during the RIMPAC 18 (Rim of the Pacific) exercise being held off Hawaii. The missile successfully struck its intended target, the former US Navy Landing Ship Tank (LST) the USS Racine, as part of a SINKEX conducted within the Pacific Missile Range Facility off the coast of Hawaii.
The weapon was one of several strikes on the former USS Racine during the course of the exercise. The ship was finally sunk by a Mk.48 torpedo fired from the US Navy’s Los Angeles class attack submarine USS Olympia.
The Harpoon launch was the first from an Australian P-8A, but it has previously been deployed by US Navy aircraft. The RAAF’s Poseidon achieved Initial Operational Capability (IOC) in March, five months ahead of the original schedule and is now working towards Final Operational Capability (FOC) in 2022.
While not a formal milestone in the journey towards FOC – Australia acknowledges the testing previously carried out by the US Navy – it nevertheless marks an important stage in the maturity of the aircraft in service with the RAAF.
“The opportunity to fire the Harpoon, as well as two Mk.54 torpedoes in the exercise, is a real affirmation of the progress we’ve made over the last 18 months, since delivery of the first aircraft,” Group Captain Darren Goldie, Officer Commanding 92 Wing, explained. “I think it’s yet another demonstration of the acquisition going to plan, and the capability being realised on, or ahead of time.”
No.11 Squadron deployed one aircraft, together with the Mobile Tactical Operations Centre (MTOC) and around 55 personnel to RIMPAC, with a further 10 people embedded within the various exercise command headquarters, including liaison officers aboard the US Navy aircraft carrier, USS Carl Vinson.
The P-8A is operating alongside maritime patrol aircraft from the US Navy, Indian Navy, Republic of Korea Navy, Japan Maritime Self Defense Force and the Air Forces of Canada and NZ.
“It has been really successful. It’s a real opportunity over a few weeks to participate in a multi-national anti-submarine warfare and anti-surface warfare exercise,” GPCAPT Goldie continued. “With no air to air threat, it allows us to work with other nations, participating in everything from a single aircraft, single submarine at periscope depth – as simple as it gets – right through to the other end of the spectrum, which is a multi-domain surface, sub-surface and air search for a surface or sub-surface assets, and the appropriate prosecution at the end.”