It is no surprise that, in preparation for a potential conflict with the People’s Republic of China, the United States Armed Forces are seeking to acquire new long-range weaponry while also integrating existing systems into platforms that have not previously employed them. The latest case involves testing and evaluations for integrating Harpoon anti-ship missiles—historically used by the U.S. Navy—onto the U.S. Air Force’s (USAF) F-16 Fighting Falcon fighters.
Although the presence of Harpoon anti-ship missiles on F-16 fighters has been documented in foreign air forces, the U.S. Air Force has not historically operated this anti-surface weapon, which is typically found on the carrier-based aircraft of the U.S. Navy. However, this stance appears to be shifting in response to emerging threats.
This change is evidenced by recent tests and evaluations involving an aircraft from Detachment 3 of the 53rd Test and Evaluation Group, which successfully demonstrated “…the capability by conducting an operational taxi test integrating a U.S. Navy Harpoon missile onto an F-16 Fighting Falcon at Nellis Air Force Base, Nevada.”
One of the key factors behind the test was the well-known challenge of integrating new weapons into various platforms—a process that can take years. To address this issue, the test teams implemented solutions to accelerate and properly validate the integration process.
“Our primary objective was to demonstrate that rapid weapons integration on U.S. Air Force platforms can be efficiently achieved by modifying middleware, without requiring extensive aircraft updates,” explained the rapid integration project manager. “This test paves the way for future projects across multiple platforms and weapon systems, giving leaders more options for operational and contingency planning.”
To achieve this, without making significant modifications to either the aircraft or the missile, the teams developed and implemented a new gateway system. This system allowed the F-16 to recognize the Harpoon missile and enabled the missile to receive data transmitted from the aircraft.
Images from the test reveal that the missile used was an XATM-84N Harpoon Block II+, a captive-carry training version of the anti-ship missile used by the U.S. Navy’s F/A-18 Hornet and Super Hornet fighters.
The U.S. Air Force’s push for faster integration processes aims to adapt more quickly to the constant evolution of threats across various operational environments. For example, the AIM-9X Sidewinder, introduced in 2003 for the F-15C and F/A-18 Hornet, faced significant delays before being integrated into the stealth F-22 Raptor, a process that was only completed in 2016.
Although the Harpoon is set to be replaced by a new generation of anti-ship missiles—such as the Naval Strike Missile (NSM) and the future AGM-158C LRASM, which has been ordered by both the U.S. Navy and Air Force—it remains in production and continues to equip a variety of ships and combat aircraft in different configurations. This makes it a viable long-range strike weapon for both current and future theaters of operation.
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