UK confirms cancellation of I-SSGW programme

The UK Royal Navy (RN) faces an extended gap in its heavyweight over-the-horizon anti-surface warfare (ASuW) capability after plans for a limited buy of ship-launched anti-ship missile systems was abandoned.

Industry was formally notified by the Ministry of Defence (MoD) earlier this month that the Interim Surface-to-Surface Guided Weapon (I-SSGW) programme had been cancelled. This decision came despite a commitment in the March 2021 Defence Command Paper to procure a replacement for the RN’s legacy ship-launched Boeing Harpoon Block 1C missile.

Harpoon Block 1C and its associated GWS 60 ship system are fitted to a number of Type 23 frigates. However, warstock obsolescence means that Harpoon will retired from RN service at the end of 2023.