US Navy Littoral Combat Ship upgrades Hellfires to counter drones

Some U.S. Navy warships are getting another option to counter unmanned aircraft systems, or drones, and it didn’t cost taxpayers tens of millions of dollars or take a decade to develop. In fact, the USS Indianapolis received the upgrade while deployed to the Red Sea area of operations last fall. The Navy said it upgraded the hardware and software on the Freedom-class Littoral Combat Ship’s surface-to-surface missile module (SSMM).

One of the launchers on the ships, designed to shoot missiles at targets on the water or land, can now target threats in the sky. The new capability is a direct response to Houthi drones launched at ships, helicopters and other targets in and around the Red Sea.

The SSMM is one of three mission modules that make up a Littoral Combat Ship’s surface warfare mission package. It holds up to 24 vertically launched Longbow Hellfire missiles and was originally designed to counter smaller, fast-moving surface vessels, such as the explosive-laden kamikaze speedboats used by the Houthis in the Red Sea or by Ukraine in the Black Sea.

While surface threats remain a reality, the Navy needed its much-maligned Littoral Combat Ships to take on additional roles. In 2022, SSMMs were modified to allow their Longbow Hellfires to hit land-based targets. Two years later, SSMMs can now target threats in three domains.

“Recent events in the U.S. 5th Fleet Area of Responsibility (AoR) underscore the importance of equipping our warships with up-to-date C-UAS systems to keep emerging threats at bay,” said Capt. Matthew Lehmann, program manager of the LCS Mission Modules program office. “By leveraging the adaptability of proven technologies in partnership with the Integrated Warfare Systems 80 program office, we were able to deliver on a critical need to the Fleet. This accomplishment showcases the ingenuity and resourcefulness of the Littoral Combat Ship Mission Module Program.”

Hellfires are widely used throughout the military. Most variants are laser-guided, but Longbows use radar, making them a fire-and-forget weapon. Once launched, the missile gets its target from the ship’s radar, and the munition’s onboard seeker locks on autonomously to deliver its payload. When air-launched, Longbows reportedly have a range of around 5 miles. There is no official word yet on the surface-launched range.

The USS Indianapolis is the first Freedom-class Littoral Combat Ship to receive the counter-drone enhancement. However, it remains unclear how many of the Navy’s other nine Freedom-class ships will receive the upgrade or whether it will be applied to Independence-class Littoral Combat Ships.