Vertical launching system

A vertical launching system (VLS) is an advanced system for holding and firing missiles on mobile naval platforms, such as surface ships and submarines. Each vertical launch system consists of a number of cells, which can hold one or more missiles ready for firing. Typically, each cell can hold a number of different types of missiles, allowing the ship flexibility to load the best set for any given mission. Further, when new missiles are developed, they are typically fitted to the existing vertical launch systems of that nation, allowing existing ships to use new types of missiles without expensive rework. When the command is given, the missile flies straight up long enough to clear the cell and the ship, and then turns on course.

The VLS cells on board USS San Jacinto

At the verge of 1960, the U.S. Navy commissioned the George Washington as its first Ballistic Missile Submarine, making it the first VLS submarine in the world to use nuclear rather than diesel propulsion

The Kara-class cruiser Azov was the first surface ship to be fitted with a VLS. The system in question contained 48 cells for 5V55RM missiles

A Tomahawk missile canister being loaded into a VLS aboard the Arleigh Burke-class destroyer USS Curtis Wilbur

A VLS allows surface combatants to have a greater number of weapons ready for firing at any given time compared to older launching systems such as the Mark 13 single-arm and Mark 26 twin-arm launchers, which were fed from behind by a magazine below the main deck. In addition to greater firepower, VLS is much more damage tolerant and reliable than the previous systems, and has a lower radar cross-section (RCS). The U.S. Navy now relies exclusively on VLS for its guided missile destroyers and cruisers.

The most widespread vertical launch system in the world is the Mark 41, developed by the United States Navy. More than 11,000 Mark 41 VLS missile cells have been delivered, or are on order, for use on 186 ships across 19 ship classes, in 11 navies around the world. This system currently serves with the US Navy as well as the Australian, Danish, Dutch, German, Japanese, New Zealand, Norwegian, South Korean, Spanish, and Turkish navies, while others like the Greek Navy preferred the similar Mark 48 system.[1]

The advanced Mark 57 vertical launch system is used on the new Zumwalt-class destroyer. The older Mark 13 and Mark 26 systems remain in service on ships that were sold to other countries such as Taiwan and Poland.

When installed on an SSN (nuclear-powered attack submarine), a VLS allows a greater number and variety of weapons to be deployed, compared with using only torpedo tubes.

Launch type

Diagram depicting a hot launch from a Mark 41 VLS

A RIM-156A missile launching from a VLS cell on USS Lake Erie in 2008.

US Navy Mark 41 Tomahawk hot launch.

A vertical launch system can be either hot launch, where the missile ignites in the cell, or cold launch, where the missile is expelled by gas produced by a gas generator which is not part of the missile itself, and then the missile ignites. "Cold" means relatively cold compared with rocket engine exhaust. A hot launch system does not require an ejection mechanism, but does require some way of disposing of the missile's exhaust and heat as it leaves the cell. If the missile ignites in a cell without an ejection mechanism, the cell must withstand the tremendous heat generated without igniting the missiles in the adjacent cells.

Hot launch

An advantage of a hot-launch system is that the missile propels itself out of the launching cell using its own engine, which eliminates the need for a separate system to eject the missile from the launching tube. This potentially makes a hot-launch system relatively light, small, and economical to develop and produce, particularly when designed around smaller missiles. A potential disadvantage is that a malfunctioning missile could destroy the launch tube. American surface-ship VLSs have the missile cells arranged in a grid with one lid per cell and are "hot launch" systems; the engine ignites within the cell during the launch, and thus it requires exhaust piping for the missile flames and gasses. France, Italy and Britain use a similar hot-launching Sylver system in PAAMS.

Cold launch

The advantage of the cold-launch system is in its safety: should a missile engine malfunction during launch, the cold-launch system can eject the missile thereby reducing or eliminating the threat. For this reason, Russian VLSs are often designed with a slant so that a malfunctioning missile will land in the water instead of on the ship's deck. As missile size grows, the benefits of ejection launching increase. Above a certain size, a missile booster cannot be safely ignited within the confines of a ship's hull. Most modern ICBMs and SLBMs are cold-launched. Russia produces both grid systems and a revolver arrangement with more than one missile per lid for its cold launch system. Russia also uses a cold launch system for some of its vertical launch missile systems, e.g., the Tor missile system.

Concentric canister launch

Some warships of China's People's Liberation Army Navy use a concentric canister launch (CCL) system that can launch using both hot and cold methods.[2] Others use a single system: Type 052C destroyers, for example, use a cold launch system; Type 054A frigates, a hot launch system.[3]

Other platforms

Transporter erector launchers are wheeled or tracked land vehicles for the launch of surface to air and surface to surface missiles. In most systems the missiles are transported in a horizontal out of battery configuration: in order to fire, the vehicle must stop and the transport/launch tube must be raised to the vertical before firing.

BAE has filed patents relating to the use of Vertical Launch missiles from modified passenger aircraft.[4]

Systems in use by nations

 Algeria

• El Radii class frigates – Umkhonto (32 cells)

 Australia

• Anzac-class frigate – Mark 41 Mod 16 (8 cells)
• Hobart-class destroyer – Mark 41 (48 cells)
• Hunter-class frigate – Mark 41 (32 cells)

 Belgium

• Karel Doorman-class frigate – Mark 48 Mod 1 (16 cells)

 Brazil

• Tamandaré-class frigate – GWS.35 (12 cells)

 Canada

• Halifax-class frigate – Mark 48 Mod 0 (16 cells)
• Canadian Surface Combatant – Mark 41 (32 cells) ExLS (6 cells). 38 cells total.

 Chile

• Karel Doorman-class frigate – Mark 48 Mod 1 (16 cells)
• Type 23 frigate – GWS.26 (32 cells)
• Adelaide-class frigate – Mark 41 Mod 16 (8 cells)

 People's Republic of China

Surface

• Type 055 destroyer – Concentric Canister Launch System (112 cells)
• Type 052D destroyer – Concentric Canister Launch System (64 cells)
• Type 052C destroyer – H/AJK03 HHQ-9 (48 cells)
• Type 051C destroyer – 48N6E (48 cells)
• Type 051B destroyer – H/AJK16 HQ-16 or Yu-8 (32 cells)
• Type 054A frigate – H/AJK16 HQ-16 or Yu-8 (32 cells)

 Denmark

• Iver Huitfeldt-class frigate – Mark 41 (32 cells) and Mark 56 (2 x 12 cells)
• Absalon-class support ship – Mark 56 (3 x 12 cells)

 Egypt

• Tahya Misr (FFG1001) – SYLVER A43 (16 cells)

 Finland

• Hamina-class missile boat – Umkhonto (8 cells)
• Hämeenmaa-class minelayer – Umkhonto (8 cells)

 France

• French aircraft carrier Charles de Gaulle – SYLVER (32 cells)
• Horizon-class frigate – SYLVER (48 cells)(+16 cells FFBNW)
• Aquitaine-class FREMM multipurpose frigate – SYLVER (32 cells)

 Germany

• Sachsen-class frigate – Mark 41 (32 cells)
• Brandenburg-class frigate – Mark 41 (16 cells)

 Greece

• Hydra-class frigate – Mark 48 (16 cells)

 India

• INS Viraat – Barak 1 (16 cells)
• INS Vikramaditya – Barak 1 (24 cells) and Barak 8
• Kolkata-class destroyer – Barak 8/Barak 1 (32 cells) and BrahMos (16 cells)
• Delhi-class destroyer – Barak 1 (32 cells)
• Rajput-class destroyer – BrahMos (8 cells) and Barak 1
• Shivalik-class frigate – Club or BrahMos (8 cells) and Barak 1 (32 cells)
• Talwar-class frigate – Club or BrahMos (8 cells)
• Brahmaputra-class frigate – Barak 1 (24 cells)
• Godavari-class frigate – Barak 1 (24 cells)
• Kamorta-class corvette – Barak 1 (16 cells)
• Arihant-class submarine – K-4 or K-15 (8 cells)

 Indonesia

• Bung Tomo-class corvette – VL MICA (16 cells)
• Martadinata-class frigate – VL MICA (12 cells)
• Ahmad Yani-class frigate – Yakhont VLS (4 cells) Ex-Van Speijk-class frigate

SYLVER cells of the Italian destroyer Caio Duilio

 Israel

• Sa'ar 5-class corvette – Barak 1 (2 x 32 cells)

 Italy

• Italian aircraft carrier Cavour – SYLVER A43 (32 cells)
• Horizon-class frigate – SYLVER A50 (48 cells)(+16 cells FFBNW)
• FREMM multipurpose frigate – SYLVER A50 (16 cells)(+16 cells FFBNW)

 Japan

• Hyūga-class helicopter destroyer – Mark 41 (16 cells)
• Kongō-class destroyer – Mark 41 (90 cells)
• Atago-class destroyer – Mark 41 (96 cells)
• Maya-class destroyer – Mark 41 (96 cells)
• Murasame-class destroyer – Mark 41 (16 cells) + Mark 48 (16 cells)
• Takanami-class destroyer – Mark 41 (32 cells)
• Akizuki-class destroyer – Mark 41 (32 cells)
• Asahi-class destroyer – Mark 41 (32 cells)

 Malaysia

• Lekiu-class frigate - GWS.26 (16 cells)

 Morocco

• Mohammed VI – SYLVER A50 (16 cells)

 New Zealand

• Anzac-class frigate – Mark 41 (8 cells)

 Netherlands

• De Zeven Provinciën-class frigate – Mark 41 (40 cells)
• Karel Doorman-class frigate – Mark 48 Mod 1 (16 cells)

 Norway

• Fridtjof Nansen-class frigate – Mark 41 (8 or 16 cells)

 Oman

• Khareef-class corvette – VL MICA (12 cells)

 Philippines

• Jose Rizal-class frigate – (Korean Vertical Launching System/K-VLS) (8 cells) (FFBNW)

 Portugal

• Karel Doorman-class frigate – Mark 48 Mod 1 (16 cells)

Soviet missile cruiser Frunze firing a missile from the Tor VLS

Top view of the Ticonderoga-class USS Lake Champlain with VLS visible fore and aft as the gray boxes near the bow and stern of the ship

 South Africa

• Valour-class frigate – Umkhonto 16 cells)

 Russia

• Kuznetsov-class aircraft carrier – Granit (12 cells) + Kinzhal (192 cells)
• Kirov-class battlecruiser – Granit (20 cells) + Fort/Fort-M (96 cells) + Kinzhal (128 cells)
• Slava-class cruiser – Fort (64 cells)
• Udaloy-class destroyer – Kinzhal (64 cells)
• Neustrashimyy-class frigate – Kinzhal (32 cells)
• Admiral Grigorovich-class frigate – 3S14 for Kalibr or BrahMos (8 cells) + 3S90M for 9M317M (24 cells)
• Admiral Gorshkov-class frigate – 3S14 for Kalibr or Oniks (16 cells) + Redut system for different type of missiles (32 cells)
• Gepard-class frigate – 3S14 for Kalibr or Oniks (8 cells)
• Steregushchy-class corvette – Redut (12 cells)
• Gremyashchy-class corvette – Redut (2 x 8 cells) + 3S14 for Kalibr or Oniks ( 8 cells)
• Buyan-M-class corvette – 3S14 for Kalibr or Oniks (8 cells)

 Singapore

• Formidable-class frigate – SYLVER (32 cells)
• Victory-class corvette – Barak 1 (2 x 8 cells)

 South Korea

Surface

• Gwanggaeto the Great-class destroyer (KDX-I) – Mark 48 (16 cells)
• Chungmugong Yi Sun-shin-class destroyer (KDX-II) – Mark 41 (32 cells) + Korean Vertical Launching System (K-VLS) (24 cells / 32 cells)
• Sejong the Great-class destroyer (KDX-III) – Mark 41 (80 cells) + K-VLS (48 cells)
• Nampo-class minelayer – K-VLS (4 cells)
• Cheon Wang Bong-class LST – K-VLS (4 cells)
• Daegu-class frigate – K-VLS (16 cells)

Submarine

• Dosan Ahn Changho-class submarine – K-VLS (10 cells)

 Spain

• Álvaro de Bazán-class frigate – Mark 41 (48 cells)

 Thailand

• Naresuan-class frigate – Mark 41 (8 cells)
• Bhumibol Adulyadej-class frigate – Mark 41 (8 cells)

 Turkey

• G-class frigate – 8 cell VLS
• Barbaros-class frigate – VLS Mark 41 Mod 8 [5] (8/16 cells)

 United Kingdom

Surface

• Type 45 destroyer – SYLVER A50 (48 cells) SYLVER A70 or Mark 41 (16 cells FFBNW)
• Type 23 frigate – GWS.26 (32 cells) (Being upgraded to GWS.35)
• Type 26 frigate - Mark 41 (24 cells) GWS.35 (48 cells). 72 cells total.
• Type 31 frigate - GWS.35 (12 cells)

Submarine

• Vanguard-class submarine – Ballistic Missile Tubes (BMT) (16 Cell)

 United States

Surface

• Arleigh Burke-class destroyer – Mark 41 (96 cells)

VLS Mark 41 Canister Types

• Ticonderoga-class cruiser – Mark 41 (122 cells)
• Zumwalt-class destroyer – Mark 57 (80 cells)

Submarine

• Los Angeles-class submarine – Mark 45 (12 tubes) for Tomahawk cruise missiles
• Virginia-class submarine – Mark 45 (12 tubes) for Tomahawk cruise missiles
• Ohio-class submarine, SSGN conversion – Mark 45 (154 tubes) for Tomahawk cruise missiles. 22 ballistic missile tubes were converted to allow for seven conventional VLS tubes in place of a SLBM tube.

See also

• List of United States Navy Guided Missile Launching Systems

References

1. Preview ofTable of contents (2016-07-08). "Naval Swiss Army Knife: MK 41 Vertical Missile Launch Systems (VLS)". Defenseindustrydaily.com. Archived from the original on 2016-12-30. Retrieved 2016-12-29.
2. "Shots of cold and hot launches of 052D destroyer unveiled". China-arms. 19 February 2020.
3. Joe, Rick (8 June 2018). "All You Need to Know About China's New Stealth Destroyer". The Diplomat. Archived from the original on 13 June 2018. Retrieved 13 June 2018.
4. "Patent US7540227 – Air based vertical launch ballistic missile defense – Google Patents". Google.com. 2003-05-06. Archived from the original on 2016-12-30. Retrieved 2016-12-29.
5. "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 2009-08-07. Retrieved 2009-04-01.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)

External links

• Mk 41 VLS – Federation of American Scientists
• MK 41 Vertical Launching System (VLS) – GlobalSecurity.org
• Mk-48 Vertical Launching System (VLS) – Seaforces-online Naval Information