The US Military and Darpa are working on a replacement for the Harpoon anti-ship missile. The intention is a active and passive equipped airborne cruise missile that will go after any target anywhere, without being dependent on communications with home base or GPS. It is also necessary to survive entry into the target area, and also be able to decide for itself where the most lethal point of the target is, and then hit it.
The Harpoon is around 40 years old now, but is no slouch. Originally developed as an open sea anti-ship weapon, it can now be fired from ship, sub or aircraft, at land or sea targets as a surgical strike weapon. It's newest variant, the SLAM ER, for 'Standoff Land Attack Missile, Expanded Response', adds a man in the loop and makes the missile reprogrammable in flight.
The Harpoon's survivability in the current climate of sophisticated ship defenses depends on being networked, being able to see GPS and other overhead targeting satellites and drones. Multiple missile launches are also necessary to ensure one gets through to the target. This is what DARPA wants to solve.
The newest project, the LRASM, 'Long Range Anti-Ship Missile, aims to do away with any dependence on communications, or any outside guidance at all. The missile will be using AI and computer algorithms to guide itself to the target, and choose where to hit it, with no outside interference, especially from the target's assets. A supersonic version was dropped to concentrate on the subsonic version. The sensor packages provided by Lockheed Martin and BAE have been tested, and the airframe should fly early in 2013.
