The recently concluded sinking exercise (SINKEX) called Atlantic Thunder 22 allowed Combat Air Crew Six (CAC-6) from VP-9 to execute a coordinated time-on-target using Harpoon anti-ship missiles with the Royal Navy’s HMS Westminster.
The target was decommissioned Oliver Hazard Perry Class frigate ex-USS Boone. A time-on-target strike is when all munitions arrived on the target nearly at the same time.
Using Naval Integrated Fires (NIFE), the target coordinates were transmitted to HMS Westminster for the warship to launch two Harpoons passively. That was the first time NIFE has been used to carry out an attack on a real target in a multinational environment.
A V-BAT 128 vertical take-off and landing (VTOL) unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) was deployed from USS Arleigh Burke (DDG 51) by members from the 22nd Marine Expeditionary Unit to provide imagery and battle damage assessment.
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