New Delhi. 25 September 2016. Another feather in Boeing’s already brimming Indian cap. The Unites States Department of Defence recently cleared a $ 81 million contract for the American giant to the supply Harpoon anti-ship missiles to India.
Boeing has been awarded $ 81,271,024 for firm-fixed-price modification to a previously awarded firm-fixed-price contract to exercise an option for the procurement of 22 Lot 89 Harpoon missiles, associated containers and components for the Government of India under the Foreign Military Sales program.
Work will be performed in St. Charles, Missouri (55.87 percent); Burnley, United Kingdom (13.68 percent); McKinney, Texas (10.16 percent); Elkton, Maryland (3.29 percent); St. Louis, Missouri (3.27 percent); Toledo, Ohio (2.62 percent); Grove, Oklahoma (1.47 percent); Ridgecrest, California (1.39 percent); Lititz, Pennsylvania (1.16 percent); Middletown, Connecticut (1.09 percent); and various locations with the U.S. (6 percent).
The McDonnell Douglas Harpoon was originally developed for the U.S. Navy but in 1983 was adapted for use on B-52H bombers. The Harpoon, first deployed in 1977, is an all-weather, over-the-horizon, anti-ship missile system. It has a low-level, sea-skimming cruise trajectory, active radar guidance.
Harpoon Block II incorporates key guidance technologies from two other Boeing weapons programs — the low-cost, integrated global positioning system/inertial navigation system (GPS/INS) from the Joint Direct Attack Munition and the software, mission computer, GPS antenna and receiver from the SLAM-ER. Boeing has delivered more than 7,000 Harpoon missiles.
The Harpoon is capable of executing both land-strike and anti-ship missions. To strike targets on land and ships in port, the missile uses GPS-aided inertial navigation to hit a designated target aimpoint. The 500-pound blast warhead delivers lethal firepower against a wide variety of land-based targets, including coastal defense sites, surface-to-air missile sites, exposed aircraft, port/industrial facilities and ships in port. For conventional anti-ship missions, such as open ocean or near-land, the GPS/INS improves midcourse guidance to the target area. The accurate navigation solution allows users to discriminate target ships from islands or other nearby land masses or ships.
The missiles will be delivered by fall 2018.
