Navy reports successful missile test fire
NewsMarch 08, 2017
WASHINGTON. The U.S. Navy reports that it has conducted a successful structural test firing of the Surface to Surface Missile Module (SSMM) from Littoral Combat Ship (LCS) USS Detroit (LCS 7) off the coast of Norfolk, Virginia.
According to the Navy, the test firing was the first launch of a missile from the SSMM on an LCS and was also the first vertical missile launched from an LCS, as part of the developmental test program for the Surface Warfare Mission Package (SUW MP). The SSMM uses the Army Longbow Hellfire Missile in a vertical-launch capability to counter threats from small boats. The SSMM missile launch module is able to withstand heat and fire in the event of an unplanned rocket-motor ignition.
The SUW MP will begin developmental testing aboard USS Milwaukee (LCS 5) later in 2017; operational testing and initial operational capability is expected during 2018.
