Lockheed Martin To Supply MK-41 Vertical Launch System Components To US Navy

Lockheed Martin has won two contracts worth $37 million to exercise options for various component equipment associated with the MK-41 Vertical Launch System, Launch Sequencer and various upgrade kits and components. 

Work is expected to be completed by December 2020, US department of defense said in a statement Wednesday.

The Mark 41 Vertical Launching System (Mk 41 VLS) is a shipborne missile canister launching system which provides a rapid-fire launch capability against hostile threats.

The Mk 41 is capable of firing the following missiles: RIM-66 Standard, RIM-67 Standard, RIM-161 Standard Missile 3, RIM-174 Standard ERAM, Tomahawk, RUM-139 VL-ASROC, RIM-7 Sea Sparrow, and RIM-162 ESSM.

The missiles are pre-loaded into "canisters", which are then loaded into the individual "cells" of the launcher. The ESSM is loaded in a quad-pack with 4 missiles in one Mk 25 canister. Launcher cells are fitted to ships in 8 cell (2 rows of 4) modules that share a common uptake hatch (exhaust system) sited between the two rows.