Is the Harpoon Badly outdated?

[Moltke71]

I'm reading Robert Haddick's Fire on the Water where he claims several Chinese surface missiles outclass the Harpoon. What's the consensus here?

[mikmykWS]

All Chinese missiles outclass Harpoon in numbers and in a some cases speed but not in guidance technology. The problem is newer Chinese warships can defend themselves far better than they used to.

Harpoon needs to be replaced. Newer THawks with upgrades will likely fill the gap until a replacement is bought or developed. Current US strategy does rely on air forces to deliver most antishipping attacks though. US warships will likely have to carry more as Chinese defenses get better until more effective tech comes on line (laser defenses, rail guns etc).

M

[Moltke71]

Good to know. Thanks

[jtoatoktoe]

Bunch of choices really. There has been talk of a newer Tomahawk. The LRASM is far into development with Lockheed and DARPA and already done VLS testing, but due to Raytheon wanting its JSOW-ER to get a fair shake, the LRASM will only be authorized for Air Launch under its Offensive Anti-Surface Warfare Increment 1 Program which should be available within the next year or two. Then a full open competition for Offensive Anti-Surface Warfare Increment 2 should hopefully be completed by 2024.....10 more years......yuck.
They are even gonna be testing the Norwegian Naval Strike Missile on a LCS ship later this year.