Jagm Quad Launcher (JQL)

[Lc89]

https://www.lockheedmartin.com/content/dam/lockheed-martin/rms/documents/naval-launchers-and-munitions/JQL_Product%20Card_8.5x11_091720.pdf

 

[Moose]

Well they've certainly tacked away from the "put missile rails in a box" LCS Hellfire launcher.

 

[Lc89]

I found it by accident. I honestly didn't understand how the MK 41 version works. I think it would be useful for the new Constellation frigate. The ground variant for the JLTV would also be very helpfu.

 

[TomS]

It's an interesting approach. Throws a bit of shade of ExLS, which supposedly can also handle JAGM but doesn't have that separate plenum. Suggests confidence in that might be lacking.

Lc89, are you wondering about the version shown on the Multi-Mission Combatant? That seems to be three JQL units (each with it's own hatch) alongside an 8-cell Mk41 module combined into a single unit for installation.

 

[Lc89]

I was wondering if the three VLS hatches were those of the Jagm or were the other four, and if so, they carry the same number of missiles as the version for patrol boats.

 

[TomS]

Yes, these three hatches appear to each cover one JQL, which is four launch tubes and an exhaust plenum. So it looks like that fit is 12 JAGM and 8 Mk 41 VLS cells (potentially 32 ESSM).

I notice the brochure mentions that the JQL "brings the … M299 launcher" to ships and vehicles, so there is still a rail inside that launch tube. But there's a lot more subdivision and environmental protection than the LCS Hellfire launcher has. And it looks like the idea is to load or remove complete quadpacks into the frame that holds the plenum. That's the middle image at the top of the brochure.

 

[sferrin]

Heh. I noodled this four years ago:

 

[Lc89]

JQL is a more recent concept.

 

[sferrin]

JQL is a more recent concept.

I know.

 

[TomS]

I think JQL has one element your design lacks -- exhaust management. But yes, it's in the same vein, especially that patrol-boat installation And that version hits at the reason why someone would do JQL instead of something like the ExLS 3-cell launcher -- JQM is a lot shorter. Especially useful if you're trying to bolt it on the upper deck of a vessel like the Mk VI of on the back of a flatbed truck like the JLTV. I think the below-deck version isn't really much better than ExLS except maybe saving some deck penetration if that's critical (as it might be in LCS/MMSC).

PS: the main page for all of these launchers is here. It's worth looking at all of the new ones -- ExLS 3-cell, Host ExLS, and the Single-Cell Launcher (SCL). They each offer slightly different capability permutations for different applications. Hard to image that there's room for all of them in the market, though. The large clusters of SCL especially confuse me. By the time you build a 2x4 nest of SCL, are you really gaining anything over Self-Defense Length Mk 41? (But then again, they don't seem to be offering Self-Defense Length Mk 41 anymore, so maybe they think SCL is a better alternative.)

 

[sferrin]

I think JQL has one element your design lacks -- exhaust management. But yes, it's in the same vein, especially that patrol-boat installation And that version hits at the reason why you would do JQL instead of something like the ExLS 3-cell launcher -- JQM is a lot shorter. Especially useful if you're trying to bolt it on the upper deck of a vessel like the Mk VI of on the back of a flatbed truck like the JLTV. I think the below-deck version isn't really much better than ExLS except maybe saving some deck penetration if that's critical (as it might be in LCS/MMSC)

All of that could be dealt with on the mount (base). Just isn't in there. The design with 4 mini-missiles is meant to be cold-launched.

 

[Lc89]

I don't understand why LM has never found serious clients for ExLS, and JQL.

 

[TomS]

I don't understand why LM has never found serious clients for ExLS, and JQL.

JQL is new -- I don't think it's been offered until quite recently. But I'll bet they have a customer -- that Patrol Boat Mk 6 installation is weirdly specific.

ExLS looks interesting, but the payload set is kind of odd. There aren't a lot of users interested in a VL RAM Block 2 or Nulka in a VLS when there are already perfectly usable launchers for those systems. Hellfire/JAGM hasn't found a huge market for shipboard use and the USN opted for the cheapest possible solution on LCS.

So that makes ExLS a de facto CAMM/Sea Ceptor launcher. That missile is gaining momentum, so ExLS may show up in several new ships -- the Canadian Surface Combatant, the new Brazilian frigates, and maybe the Finish corvettes. But for the RN, which has already adopted the dedicated CAMM launcher to retrofit for Sea Wolf in the Type 23s, it doesn't make sense to also load CAMM in a different type of cannister to fit ExLS.

 

[Lc89]

I'd also find it useful for the Coast Guard.

 

[Moose]

ExLS is going to show up on the Canadian frigate, LockMart's pretty set on it. While it seems ancient in internet years, it's still a reasonably recent development overall.

It would be interesting for the Coasties, but no money has been made available to up-arm any cutters of late. And RAM or SeaRAM are more probable than a VLS solution in the near term.

 

[Lc89]

JQL Could be the “Game Changing Force Multiplier” for Small Naval Boats and Littoral Warfare Ships - Naval News

In the ever-changing dynamic arena of Littoral and naval warfare, rapid precision firepower could decide which ships survive and which ships don’t. Lockheed Martin’s Joint Air-to-Ground Missile (JAGM) Quad Launcher (JQL) adds guided short-range missile firepower that many small boats and fast...

www.navalnews.com

 

[zen]

I did wonder if there was a logic to a shorter ranged Ceptor. Cutting length down to say fit this JQL silo.....
Returning the concept back to the Surface launched SRAAM concept.

 

[TomS]

SO, I see JQL isn't being offered anymore. Or at least, is not listed on the LM website. The brochure link above is dead now.