The Ship Model Forum

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"Haijun" means "navy" in Mandarin Chinese.

"You have enemies? Good. It means you stood up for something in your life."- Winston Churchill

It is strange that the US is continuing to develop a 1950s design. I suppose they think "if it ain't broke, don't fix it."

There might also be enormous costs involved if a replacement were significantly different in shape and dimensions. All those Mk 41 VLS silos would have to be altered/scrapped!

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In 1757 Admiral John Byng was shot "pour encourager les autres". Voltaire

That's interesting, because I was just thinking that continuing to develop and utilize older systems was more normal than unusual. Consider the C-130 and B-52 in the aviation realm, both sound designs from the 1950s which still fit their niches quite well. The Browning .50 caliber machine gun is almost 100 years old, still standard issue. Both the Sidewinder and Sparrow missiles are from the 1950's, their developments RAM and ESSM are standard equipment for a number of navies. The AK-47 is from the 1940's, the M-16 is from the 1960's. Etcetera.

There are a number of factors which lead to retaining old systems and paradigms. If you want to see a really weird one, look into how the Roman Empire determined the gauge for North American railroads.

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https://inchhighguy.wordpress.com/

Of course there is a utility in keeping with a system that works well and I am sure that is part of the reason why the Standard missile has continued in service for so long.

The Sparrow has been replaced in air- launched version by AMRAAM although the USN persists with it in the ESSM.

Missile technology must have changed enormously over the past 65years but I assume that if the form of the Standard Missile was very efficient to start with, then all the electronics and software can be ripped out and replaced and it can soldier on.

Perhaps it is a USN thing? Harpoon, ESSM, Standard, RAM, - is there any missile currently in service which is not very old?

I think they are buying a Norwegian SSM and isn't there a new US designed SSM in the pipeline? At one time the US were the major innovators in missiles but they (or at least the USN) seem to be content to keep with old and in the case of ESSM, somewhat clunky systems.

Perhaps there is too much competition for US manufacturers and using these older missiles is a way of supporting US jobs?

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In 1757 Admiral John Byng was shot "pour encourager les autres". Voltaire

The ESSM and original Sea Sparrow share only the name in common - look at any photos of the two and you'll see they have very little in common.

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De quoi s'agit-il?

Thanks for the correction Timmy.

I read that it was based on the Sparrow missile from the 1960s but as you say it looks very different so should probably be considered a completely new missile.

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In 1757 Admiral John Byng was shot "pour encourager les autres". Voltaire