PATUXENT RIVER NAS, Md. – U.S. Navy missile experts are asking the Boeing Co. to build 467 Harpoon anti-ship missiles for U.S. allies under terms of a $657 million order announced last week.
Officials of the Naval Air Systems Command at Patuxent River Naval Air Station, Md., are asking the Boeing Co. Defense, Space & Security segment in St. Louis to build 467 Harpoon full rate production Lot 91 Block II missiles and support equipment for foreign military sales customers.
The Harpoon is an all-weather, over-the-horizon, anti-ship missile, developed and manufactured by McDonnell Douglas before its 1997 acquisition by Boeing. The missile first was delivered in 1977.
Boeing will build four missiles and support equipment for Brazil; eight for Thailand; 53 for Qatar; 402 for Saudi Arabia; and support equipment for Japan, the Netherlands, India, and Korea.
The radar-guided Harpoon missile is designed to fly low enough to avoid air-defense radar. It can launch from fixed-wing aircraft, surface warships, submarines, coastal defense installations.
The Harpoon Block II offers an expanded engagement envelope, enhanced resistance to electronic countermeasure,s and improved targeting. It can operate reliably in the open ocean, as well as in coastal waters and harbors.
Related: Boeing delivers Harpoon missiles with updated guidance control
The Harpoon Block II has an inertial measurement unit (IMU), satellite guidance, and improved software. The Block II version has been in production since 2011. The missile and booster weigh 1523 pounds, are 12.6 feet long, 13.5 inches in diameter, and carry a 488-pound explosive warhead.
On this order Boeing will do the work in St. Louis; McKinney, Texas; Toledo, Ohio; Grove, Okla.; Pontiac, Mich.; Putnam, Conn.; Galena, Kan.; Burnley, England; Lititz, Pa.; Minneapolis; and other U.S. locations, and should be finished by December 2026.
For more information contact Boeing Defense, Space & Security online at www.boeing.com, or Naval Air Systems Command at www.navair.navy.mil.
