Quote:
Originally Posted by edslunch
While I'm glad this is done, I don't see them being enough to protect our arctic sovereignty which is a concern given Russia's expansionist tendencies. We need long-range drones with anti-ship missiles though I'm guessing that's not a thing. Seriously though drones with long loiter times seem ideal for remote coastal use.
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Air power alone whether its drone or manned aircraft isn't enough to ensure arctic sovereignty.
Realistically submarines are the best anti-ship platform out there. Unless you're going to buy bombers that can carry large amounts of anti-ship missiles in numbers enough to overwhelm a ships defense.
However the F-35 has some nice antiship capability.
The AGM-158C Standoff low observable missile, its a long range stealthy cruise missile, with autonomous targeting is considered to be a brilliant missile with a 1000 pound warhead.
The Future Spear-3 which is designed around the Block 4 F-35 is out there, as is.
There's also the NSM which is an advanced ground and anti-ship future capable strike missile, which has a range of nearly 200 miles, is a stealthy sea skimmer that can maneuver around obstacles.