Boeing Takes Out Harpoon Missile From US Navy Over-The-Horizon Missile Competition

Boeing has withdrawn an upgraded variant of its RGM-84 Harpoon anti-ship cruise missile from the competition to field an over-the-horizon (OTH) cruise missile for US Navy’s littoral combat ships (LCS) and frigates.

Boeing’s decision to withdraw from the competition was because of the US Navy’s continuing requirements changes in Request for Proposal (RFP) amendments.

Troy Rutherford, director of cruise missile systems at Boeing Defense was quoted as saying by Defense News that, “in every iteration of the RFP amendments we see a decrease in the top-level requirements document and changes in the top-level requirements document. We’ve taken a hard look at that and said that at this point it doesn’t make sense for the Boeing Company to bid on this”. 

The Raytheon/Kongsberg Naval Strike Missile (NSM) and Lockheed Martin Long Range Anti-Ship Missile (LRASM) are the likely candidates in the OTH effort now. 

Boeing had initially pitched a version of the weapon that would add a new warhead and a reconstituted engine for a range of more than 130 nautical miles — up from the about 70 nautical mile range of the current Block II weapons — in a Harpoon Next Generation configuration.

“We were invested heavily across the OTH domain, and we’re on track with Navy to produce the Block II Plus first net-enabled OASUW [Offensive Anti-Surface Warfare] cruise missile into operational capability this year. And we continue to be on track for with early development for Extended Range for the air-launched version,” Rutherford said. 

Final bids on the OTH program are due to be submitted June 23.