U.S. Navy awards $9 million contract modification for Hellfire missile module

U.S. weapons maker Northrop Grumman has been awarded a $9 million U.S. Navy’s contract modification for exercise an option for the production of Littoral Combat Ship (LCS) Surface-to-Surface Missile Module.

The Department of Defense said Friday that Northrop Grumman has received new modification for support of U.S. Navy’s Littoral Combat Ship (LCS) Mission Modules (MM) program.

“The LCS are fast, agile and networked surface combatants, optimized for operating in the littorals through outfitting seaframes with mission-specific mission packages,” said the U.S. Defense Department, noting that “The primary missions supported by mission packages are: anti-submarine warfare, mine countermeasures and surface warfare.”

Work will be performed in Huntsville, Alabama (80%); Bethpage, New York (18%); and Hollywood, Maryland (2%), and is expected to be completed by May 2021.

In mid-Jul, the U.S. Navy reported that it successfully completed structural testing of the Longbow Hellfire missile for the Littoral Combat Ship Surface-to-Surface Missile Module.

Integration of the Longbow Hellfire missile system, designated the Surface-to-Surface Missile Module (SSMM), will increase the lethality of the Navy’s fleet of littoral combat ships. SSMM utilizes the Army Longbow Hellfire Missile in a vertical launch capability to counter small boat threats.