Weapon Selection Case Study

The Republic of Stupidia (formerly the Kingdom of Idiotonia) has been considering which of two competing weapons it should acquire.  Here’s a brief description of them:
 
1. Surface to Surface HARE missile
 

• Guidance – combined GPS, terrain following, semi-active radar homing, laser guided, optical with mid-course guidance from any platform anywhere in the world
• Targeting Sensor – combined electro-optical, infrared, infrared imagining, microwave, LIDAR, active radar, library image matching with individual rivet target selection
• Terminal Maneuver – infinite maneuvering through subspace with interdimensional terminal popup
• Networking – ‘on the fly’ spontaneous networking creating a mobile weapons cloud network automatically integrating with all regional networks for up to the nano-second data linking
• Range – intercontinental with planned upgrade to interstellar
• Speed – 70% lightspeed
• Warhead – hyperfusion with dark matter enhanced antimatter core and selectable high explosive, fragmentation, or shaped charge modes
• Cost – four million quadtrillion dollars (2024 $) each
• Production Rate – one per century

 
 
2. Surface to Surface TORTOISE  missile
 

• Guidance – inertial navigation
• Targeting Sensor – active radar
• Terminal Maneuver - none
• Networking – none
• Range – 1000 miles
• Speed – cruise Mach 0.7, terminal sprint Mach 2
• Warhead – TNT
• Cost – $50,000 each
• Production Rate – 1000 per week

 
 
Update Result:  Stupidia chose the HARE missile and subsequently lost the war against the neighboring godless heathens of Commonsenseica due to the one missile per century production rate and the HARE’s cyber vulnerability discovered by a teenager in Commonsenseica who was trying to program a video war game and wound up inadvertently taking control of the HARE missile.
 
 
 
Think this is silly?  Let’s take a look at what the US Navy is actually doing.
 
The US Navy is looking at a new anti-ship missile as described below
 
AGM-158C LRASM (Long Range Anti-Ship Missile)
 

• Guidance – jam resistant GPS, Inertial Navigation, data link for mid-course guidance and updates
• Targeting Sensor – Infrared thermal imaging with image reference library, passive RF, EO, automatic scene/target matching recognition with AI software guidance for target selection, passive electronic support measures (ESM), data-link for off-board real-time electronic picture of the enemy battlespace provided by other assets, on-the-fly missile-to-missile networking for data sharing and attack coordination
• Networking – on-the-fly missile-to-missile networking for data sharing and attack coordination
• Range - >200 nm
• Speed – subsonic
• Warhead – 1000 lb WDU-42/B HE blast fragmentation penetrator
• Cost – $3M+ each
• Production Rate – something on the order of 100 per year

 
 
Does the LRASM sound eerily similar to Stupidia’s HARE missile with its attendant high cost, complexity, and very poor production rates? 
 
Now consider what a non-existent, theoretical missile based on ComNavOps’ (K.I.S.S.) principles might look like:
 
Non-existent, Basic Missile
 

• Guidance – inertial navigation
• Targeting Sensor – active radar
• Networking – none
• Range – 1000 miles
• Speed – cruise Mach 0.7, terminal sprint Mach 2
• Warhead – high explosive
• Cost – $50,000 each
• Production Rate – 1000 per week

 
Does that sound eerily similar to the TORTOISE missile with its attendant simplicity, low cost, and ease of production?
 
So, which one is the Navy pursuing?  Yeah, the LRASM HARE. 
 
All four of our LRASM missiles should be finished with production in time for the coming war with China and I expect they’ll work just as well as the other weapons we’ve sent to Ukraine.
 
Are we selecting the right weapons?  TORTOISE or the HARE?