ABSTRACT
Few new ship launched missiles have appeared on the scene in the last year. The American Harpoon is still under development and a number of successful trials have been carried out. Ship-to-submarine missiles are dealt with under the Anti-Submarine Warfare section. Most modern ship-to-ship missiles rely for the major part of their flight on inertial navigation. America, like Britain, was slow off the mark in developing ship-to-ship missiles, but unlike Britain is now well ahead with the Harpoon, being developed by McDonnell Douglas. The idea of a submarine-to-ship missile was first conceived by the Soviets. They are known to have a missile, or missiles, which can be launched from a submerged submarine on target position obtained by passive sonar, or possibly aerial reconnaissance. The American idea is to launch Harpoon outside the sonar screen and hope that its sophisticated homing radar will pick out the biggest ship. The missile will be launched from a torpedo tube contained in buoyant canister.
