U.S. Navy modifying defensive weapons to give them offensive capability

At a panel presentation at the America Society of Naval Engineers’ Combat Systems Symposium on Dec. 1, U.S. Navy officials share with attendees how the sailing branch is giving old defense weapons a new life by giving them an offensive capability.

U.S. Navy photo via Wikimedia Commons

One example is the SM-6 anti-air missile, the service is researching on software upgrades to bring additional mission sets to the weapon.

This idea is part of the distributed lethality concept pushed by the Navy to enable each of its warship with lethal offensive capabilities

Another weapon that may benefit from this concept is the Tomahawk land-attack cruise missile. Director of Surface Warfare (OPNAV N96) Rear Adm. Peter Fanta says the time has come for the Tomahawk to be able to engage enemy warships thanks to improves in sensor capabilities.

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