WASHINGTON (Sputnik) — The US Navy has commenced a series of tests to deploy Long Range Anti-Ship Missiles (LRASM) on its F-18/A and F-18E/F Super-Hornet jets, defense contractor Lockheed Martin said in a news release on Monday.
"The LRASM airworthiness flights on the Super Hornet put us one step closer to fielding this urgently needed capability for our warfighters," Lockheed Martin Missiles and Fire Control LRASM Director Mike Fleming stated in the release.
"The flight data acquired validates the LRASM system design and clears the way for the test program to continue," Fleming noted.
The LRASM is a precision-guided, anti-ship missile that allows carrier-launched aircraft to conduct precisions trikes against ships and other maritime targets from outside the range of their anti-aircraft defense systems.
