USN orders more Vertical Launch System canisters
The USN wants more Vertical Launch System canisters. (Photo: BAE Systems)
BAE Systems will provide the USN with canisters for the Mk 13, Mk 14, Mk 25 and Mk 29 VLS.
BAE Systems has obtained a $76 million contract modification from the USN to produce additional Vertical Launch System (VLS) canisters for guided-missile cruisers and destroyers.
The company will produce canisters for the Mk 13, Mk 14, Mk 25, Mk 29 VLS and other hardware for the USN. The contract modification also supports FMS purchases by Australia, Japan, the Netherlands, Norway, South Korea, Spain, and Turkey.
Work is scheduled for completion in 2023.
The canisters function as containers for missile shipping and storage, as well as launch tubes when loaded into the VLS.
‘They also provide identification and firing support to multiple missile types, including the Tomahawk Land Attack Missile (TLAM), Standard Missile-2, Standard Missile-3, Standard Missile-6, the Evolved SeaSparrow Missile and the vertical launch anti-submarine rocket known as ASROC,’ BAE Systems noted in a 4 May statement.
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