Why Subsonic missiles for the US Navy and Not Supersonic?
There are many countries around the world that have a selection of subsonic missiles in their arsenals and does are subsonic missiles for the US make sense? Subsonic missiles for the US Navy offer better range such as the US built Harpoon. It is widely used alongside the newer Tomahawk and also missiles like the Exocet missile from France.
All these missiles have proven their effectiveness in the past from the Falklands war to the Iraq wars and currently Russia’s use of their own subsonic cruise missiles. The use of these precision guided subsonic missiles has proven decisive in removing the enemies communications and defense infrastructure saving manned aircraft to run the gauntlet of what are normally very heavily defended targets.
How are Subsonic Missiles Used.
The use of subsonic cruise and anti ship missiles has been wide spread and very flexible in how they are launched. In the Falklands conflict French built Super super Etendard flew strike missions at wave top height to avoided detection and launch these powerful missiles against shipping targets. It was shown to be an effective weapon hitting UK targets in the conflict and an amount of apprehension was shown from UK forces at the time.
In addition the subsonic missiles used by the countries mentioned there are certainly many more indigenous ones available. Initiating an attack with these cruise missiles is often from ship launched from vertical launch variants. These are held in vertical launch tubes on the deck on ships as well as submarines.
The initial attacks in recent conflicts were initiated not with troops and aircraft as ft but surface, ship borne and air launched variants of these missiles. Using these missiles is relatively inexpensive with regard to risking fighter and power pilots as well as their very much more expensive aircraft.
Ideally these missiles fly fast and low to the ground in mass attacks designed to overwhelm enemy air defences and take out as.many targets as possible in a short time. This is where ground and piloted aircraft then enter the scene.
What are Subsonic Missiles.
The use of subsonic missiles for anti ship works is they generally are air breathing using small jet engines which gives them an excellent stand-off range.
The components are similar in every missile of this type with a speaker at the very front followed by a computer guidance system with GPS and internal navigation systems to reach their targets.
There is then a large explosive warhead and these can be in a variety of types for different uses. Attacking a specific target with a warhead or flying over dispensing sub munitions to deploying essentially metal swords to kill a target without great collateral damage.
They can often fly very low reliably staying below the enemy horizon for a long period before attacking. Remaining low makes it hard to detect with radars and even optical sights. Being able to launch a number in a coordinated attack from multiple directions at once can overwhelm defensive systems allowing a successful attack.
How much do Cruise Missiles Cost.
Cruise missiles in the very big scheme of war are cheap compared to throwing many aircraft at a target so subsonic missiles for the US Navy makes a lot of sense. It’s reported that a Tomahawk missile costs around two million a shot which is pretty cheap when it may take out a billion dollar aircraft carrier. This makes taking out an airbase with 10 to 20 missiles far more attractive with missiles than a full strike package.
A strike package could conceivably comprise of around 30 aircraft. Start adding up the $50 – $80 million each plus $5 million or so to train each pilot makes it an attractive option.
Conclusion
The use of subsonic sonic cruise missiles is extremely effective in both a practical sense and a financial sense as well. Protecting your most expensive assets by not drawing them into a direct attack is both wise and good planning in saving assets for better suited missions.
If you can remove the bulk of most dangerous threats and hamper command and control with these missiles is great start to a campaign. Exactly this was done in Desert Storm where Tomahawks were unleashed in a coordinated attack where major defenses that was followed up by stealth fighters hitting command and control while simultaneous attacks on airfields and troop/tank concentrations. Used wisely the subsonic cruise missile has an important part to play in warfare today and into the future.
Author
Brendon McAliece (Aka Gunnie) is a military veteran with 23 years working on Jet Fighters, their weapons systems and ejection seat/module systems as well as munitions and R&D. Involved with flight simulation since the 1980s, he has flown all the major flight simulators over the years.
He is an Australian expat who has lived in Malaysia, UK, Saudi Arabia and more recently Thailand. He is a multilingual blogger who loves to share his life experiences here on LetsFlyVFR.com and DreamingGuitar.com, with his lifestyle and Travel experiences Blog plus his Dreaming Coffee website.
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