The Boeing Co., St. Louis, Missouri, was awarded a $1,170,768,698 to a firm-fixed-price order against a previously issued basic ordering agreement. This modification procures 400 RGM-84L-4 Harpoon Block II Update (HIIU) Grade B canister tactical missiles, four RTM-84L-4 Block II HIIU Grade B canister exercise missiles, 411 containers, four blast test vehicles, two Harpoon Weapon System (HWS) Joint Common Test Sets (JCTS), Harpoon Coastal Defense System (HCDS) spares, weapon station support equipment, JCTS spares, missile spares, HCDS training equipment, integrated logistics support and technical publications, field service representatives and training. Work is expected to be completed in March 2029. Foreign Military Sales funds in the amount of $629,776,662 will be obligated at the time of award, none of which will expire at the end of the current fiscal year. The Naval Air Systems Command, Patuxent River, Maryland, is the contracting activity.
The Harpoon is an all-weather, over-the-horizon, anti-ship missile manufactured by McDonnell Douglas (now Boeing Defense, Space & Security). The AGM-84E Standoff Land Attack Missile (SLAM) and later AGM-84H/K SLAM-ER (Standoff Land Attack Missile – Expanded Response) are cruise missile variants. The regular Harpoon uses active radar homing and flies just above the water to evade defenses. In production at Boeing facilities in Saint Charles, Missouri, is the Harpoon Block II, intended to offer an expanded engagement envelope, enhanced resistance to electronic countermeasures and improved targeting. Specifically, the Harpoon was initially designed as an open-ocean weapon. The Block II missiles continue progress begun with Block IE, and the Block II missile provides the Harpoon with a littoral-water anti-ship capability.
The Harpoon Coastal Defense System (HCDS) is the land-based version of the Boeing Harpoon missile Block II anti-ship and land-attack missile, which is designed to eliminate enemy coastal defenses, surface-to-air missile launch sites, aircraft, ports, and docked ships. The Harpoon missile launcher can be mounted on a truck. The missile is fire from container launchers mounted at the rear of a military truck chassis. Another truck holds the Command Launch System electronics and a generator. Park the two trucks, connect them with cables, and the anti-ship missile battery is ready to control straits or prevent ships from threatening friendly soil. The Danish Navy has already in service a truck-mounted version Harpoon missile used as Coastal Air Defense System. HCDS consists of RGM-84L-4 Harpoon Block II surface-launched missiles with a maximum range of 75 miles, radar trucks, and support and test equipment.
In 2018, the U.S. State Department has made a determination approving a possible Foreign Military Sale to Finland of RGM-84Q-4 Harpoon Block II+ ER Grade B Surface-Launched Missiles and RGM-84L-4 Harpoon Block II Grade B Surface-Launched Missiles for an estimated cost of $622 million. Finland intends to use the missiles on its Hamina class ships, Multirole Corvette ships, and Coastal Batteries. In 2020, the U.S. State Department has made a determination approving a possible Foreign Military Sale to the Taipei Economic and Cultural Representative Office in the United States (TECRO) of up to one hundred (100) Harpoon Coastal Defense Systems (HCDS) and related equipment for an estimated cost of $2.37 billion. TECRO has requested to buy up to one hundred (100) Harpoon Coastal Defense Systems (HCDS) consisting of up to four hundred (400) RGM-84L-4 Harpoon Block II Surface Launched Missiles; and four (4) RTM-84L-4 Harpoon Block II Exercise Missiles.
