'Distributed lethality' concept boosts navy's need for new weaponry.

• Author: Insinna, Valerie
• Position: Business + Industry News

The Navy can't afford to buy an abundance of new ships during a time when defense budgets are stagnant, so service leaders are pushing a new concept called "distributed lethality," in which legacy vessels would be packed with off-the-shelf weapons and sensors that make them more deadly and survivable.

During a speech in January, Vice Adm. Thomas Rowden, commander of naval surface forces and U.S. Pacific Fleet, called for the Navy to explore putting new guns and missiles on everything from destroyers and littoral combat ships to logistics and amphibious vessels. These solutions, he said, must be non-developmental.

Defense executives said they are ready to meet those needs. For instance, Raytheon is pushing forward on testing two new missiles light enough to be integrated on small surface ships, said Ron Jenkins, director of LCS systems for Raytheon Missile Systems.

The Griffin C missile incorporates a different front end than the company's Griffin B missiles, which have been fitted on the Navy's coastal patrol vessels, he said. The dual-mode seeker on the front end allows the user to designate a target with GPS coordinates, a laser or infrared. Raytheon is also developing an extended range version with a motor that triples its range.

"It's going to be quickly available to the U.S. Navy should they decide to go that particular direction," he said. The Griffin C is undergoing internal demonstrations and could be ready for Navy testing by the end of this year, while the extended range version could be available for tests as early as 2016.

The Griffin C doesn't fit the bill of the over-the-horizon surface-to-surface missile that the sea service plans to acquire over the next few years, Jenkins said. The range of the extended range Griffin...