US MACE missile aims at China’s superior naval numbers

The US Navy is enlisting industry expertise to field the Multi-mission Affordable Capacity Effector (MACE), a cost-effective air-launched anti-ship weapon with extended range and increased lethality.

Last month, Breaking Defense reported that the US Navy is seeking industry assistance to rapidly prototype and field the MACE stand-off weapon, which according to a public notice should have “increased range at lower costs” and “integrated a high-maturity propulsion system with proven payloads.”

The objective of the notice is to help the government determine if there are existing sources with the capability and experience to rapidly prototype, integrate, test and field a long-range, network-enabled weapon system capable of launch from a F/A-18E/F and F-35A/C.

The notice states that MACE should complement the Long Range Anti-Ship Missile (LRASM), the <a href=«https://finance.yahoo.com/quote/LMT?.tsrc=» https:>Lockheed Martin

-made missile fielded on the US Navy’s F/A-18 and the US Air Force’s B-1B.

Breaking Defense notes that possible successors to the LRASM, an effort dubbed Hypersonic Air Launched Offensive Anti-Surface (HALO), are in development by Lockheed Martin and <a href=«https://finance.yahoo.com/quote/%5ERTX?.tsrc=» https:>Raytheon

.

Still, the US Navy has previously stated it doesn’t expect that weapon to be fielded until the 2030s. It notes that Naval Air Systems Command, the service agency responsible for buying aircraft and associated weaponry, wants to field an early version of MACE in fiscal year 2027.

MACE and HALO aim to address concerns about firepower, range and penetration capability by improving the US’s carrier-based anti-ship capability limitations.

In January 2024, Asia Times reported on the HALO