Talk:AFOH/@comment-14850713-20160612074414

IC:

The Mk 8/Mk 16 rail gun and the FBW-N/T hypersonic missile have been the mainstays of AFOH forces when it comes to long-range (in excess of 700 km) anti-ship/land attack weapons. The problem is that the delivery systems for these are limited due to cost and size considerations, leaving capability gaps in the fleet's distributed lethality arsenal. The giant rail guns, although initially deployed in the surface fleet, has found more use as a fixed, land-based system, necessitated by its size and its need for a prodigious power supply (only 18 of the Mk 8-equipped Normandie-class battlecruisers were eventually commissioned). The upgraded Mk 16 was eventually retrofitted to Revanche-class aerospace cruisers, but plans to install it in more classes were hampered by the performance penalty and cost associated with its massive casemate (attached to the bottom hull, and contains the weapon, it's independent power plant and ammunition).

The air-launched FBW-N/T hypersonic missile, while a highly indefensible and accurate penetrating weapon, is limited in carriage to the Paladin heavy aerospace fighter, the Fantome BS-1H bomber, and the Revanche Flight II ships due to its size and weight. A smaller weapon which can be delivered by a wider array of platforms is clearly needed, and the Advanced Long-range Hypersonic Missile (ALHM) is designed to fill that need.

The AHLM combines the smaller warhead of the FBW-T (which carries 4 of it) with less advanced/lower-cost derivatives of the Shadow DF-11 drone fighter's fusion engine and guidance system in a highly-maneuverable hypersonic airframe. It has an in-atmosphere range of 2,500 km. and, in contrast to the USNiE approach with its impeller missiles, depends on agility rather than extreme speed to evade defenses and countermeasures. At near-terminal phase, when the missile detects the presence of enemy defenses (it can distinguish between active systems like radar emissions or passive systems like IR beams; it can also be programmed to "expect" a known defense at a pre-defined range), it slows down to low-hypersonic and deploys its wings, fins and scramjet intake to undertake evasive maneuvers. At terminal phase, when the missile lock on the target using a combination of active radar, IR, electro-optical and laser homing, it accelerates once more to get it past the target's CIWS envelope. In aerospace combat, where the ALHM's range and speed increases exponentially, the wings and fins deploy to increase friction and slow it down, depending solely on the vectored thrust of its rocket motor for maneuverability.

Unlike the dual-mode Hyper Harpoon with its tandem penetrator and high-explosive warhead, the ALHM is optimized for the anti-ship/land-attack mission and launched from a wide range of surface and aerospace ships. Key to it's deployability is the Mk 70 Modular Vertical Launch System (MVLS). Grouped in a "quad" pack of 4 launchers, the Mk 70 can be distributed around the available spaces of a ship. Heavy aerospace and surface surface units can carry up to 16 quads (64 missiles) while lighter units/escorts can carry from 8 to 12 (32 to 48 missiles), although these are more likely to carry a mix of AHLMs and Harpoons.