WEAPONS AND TECHNOLOGY: Navy League’s Sea-Air-Space Expo

Anchors Await

4GWAR photo

Your 4GWAR editor is over at National Harbor, Maryland outside Washington, D.C. this week at the Navy League’s Sea-Air-Space Exposition. We’re working for Seapower magazine this week, which has the daunting task of trying to cover every speech, panel discussion, corporate and service briefing for its daily show paper. You can see what we’ve been up to (unmanned aircraft today, missiles and rockets tomorrow) by clicking here  or going to the Seapower website.

It’s a huge industry show with big name defense contractors like Lockheed Martin, Boeing, Northrop Grumman, Raytheon and General Atomics showing their offerings for the Navy, Marine Corps and Coast Guard.

And then there are presentations by several government entities like Naval Air Systems Command (NAVAIR), Naval Sea Systems Command (NAVSEA), the Office of Naval Research, the Marine Corps Systems Command, Military Sealift Command, the Maritime Administration (MARAD) and the Coast Guard Acquisition Directorate.

The photos above and below – taken at the end of the day Monday – don’t do the show and the crowds justice. We understand attendance is up this year after all the fiscal uncertainty of last year’s congressional budget battles depressed attendance at many military trade shows.

One  technology briefing by the Naval Air Warfare Center Weapons Division looked especially interesting. The folks from the Navy unit based at China Lake, California were slated to talk about Spike, a miniature missile launcher they have developed. But, unfortunately, the briefing was called off.

We learned some interesting things, prepping for the briefing. To date, according to a China Lake press release, about 26 advanced development test missiles have been built and tested at NAWCWD. But Spike is something else again. It was an in-house project, completely developed and funded by NAWCWD.

Measuring 25 inches and weighing less than six pounds, the miniature precision guided missile has been tested sucessfully against small boat targets. The mini missile was originally intended to provide a lightweight shoulder-fired weapon for use against soft and lightly-armored targets at close range (less than two miles) but the anti-small boat testing has planners wondering if Spike could be used to protect warships against swarming small boat attack, according to IHS Jane’s Navy International.

The mini missile has piqued the interest of the Marine Corps, Naval Special Warfare, special operations forces and the intelligence community, according to Navy Times. The Army’s Research and Development Command (ARDEC) is interested in using Spike the weapon as a counter unmanned air vehicle attack platform, according to the Naval Air Systems Command.

One benefit of the small weaponry, it can take out a few bad guys or a lightly armored vehicle with a reduced risk of collateral damage. We’ll be keeping an eye on this technology and its apparently many potential uses.

The Navy League expo ends Wednesday (April 9).