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The Long Range Anti-Ship Missile<\/strong><\/p>\nWhen it comes to anti-ship missiles, the United States has always been behind Russia. The Soviet Union and now Russia have been fielding them since the 1950s, and Russia and China have numerous models in use, as well as upcoming hypersonic weapons. America, meanwhile, is still using the venerable and short-ranged Harpoon from the 1970s. The new\u00a0Long Range Anti Ship Missile<\/a>, or LRASM, should even the odds. The LRASM, which will launched from ships and aircraft, has a range of more than 200 miles compared to seventy for the Harpoon, packs a 1,000 pound\u2013warhead, and is designed to be stealthy to enemy radar. This year, Lockheed Martin was awarded an $86.5 million contract to build the first twenty-three regular production missiles for launch from B-1 bombers and F-18 fighters. While the U.S. Navy’s offensive punch has long tended to be airpower, the LRASM will go a long toward restoring the potency of the navy’s surface warships.<\/p>\n Swarm Drones<\/strong><\/p>\n The next big thing in warfare may be groups of a hundred or more air or ground drones, in a robotic blitz to\u00a0blanket the battlefield<\/a>\u00a0and smother the enemy. In 2017, DARPA put out a public\u00a0challenge<\/a>\u00a0for its Offensive Swarm\u2013Enabled Tactics (OFFSET) program: the agency wants someone to come up with tactics that will enable drone swarms to fight in an urban area. And not just any tactics: DARPA wants drones that can adjust their tactics in the middle of a battle. That Pentagon thinking has progressed beyond technology, to how to actually employ technology on this battlefield, suggests that drone swarms have matured as a concept.<\/p>\n The Zircon Hypersonic Missile<\/strong><\/p>\n Russia announced this year that its\u00a0Zircon hypersonic anti-ship missile<\/a>\u00a0had been successfully tested. Russia claims that the Zircon has a speed of 4,600 miles per hour, which would make too fast for current shipboard defense weapons to shoot down. That prospect already has Britain worried that its new and expensive aircraft carriers will be\u00a0sitting ducks<\/a>\u00a0for Zircon missiles.<\/p>\n The M1A2 SEP V3 Abrams Tank<\/strong><\/p>\n With all the worries that Russia’s new T-14 Armata tank has rendered Western tanks obsolete, it’s significant that America’s\u2014and therefore the Western world’s\u2014primary tank is finally receiving a\u00a0major upgrade<\/a>. The M1A2 Abrams is bulking up into the M1A2 SEP V3, with improved armor, sensors and electronics. The upcoming SEP V4 will feature improved ammunition for the M-1’s 120mm gun and an enhanced laser rangefinder.<\/p>\n Russia’s New Warships<\/strong><\/p>\n That Russia is\u00a0building<\/a>\u00a0numerous new warships, including frigates and corvettes, isn’t a surprise. What is troubling is that these relatively small vessels will bearmed<\/a>\u00a0with the Zircon hypersonic missiles, which give even a small ship a big punch. Of course, with any weapons and especially Russian ones, expectations and real-life performance may differ. Nonetheless, if Russia succeeds in building a hypersonic missile that can equip smaller warships with a fast, devastating punch, then this is trouble for navies\u2014and one in particular\u2014that rely on big, expensive ships like aircraft carriers.<\/p>\n