Denmark to provide Harpoon anti-ship missiles to Ukraine


According to information published by the U.S. DoD on May 24, 2022, the Secretary of Defense Lloyd J. Austin III said that Denmark will provide a Harpoon launcher and missiles to help Ukraine defend its coast.
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Russian Vyborg Shipyard laid the Purga ice class coastguard ship of project 23550 925 001 Harpoon anti-ship missile fired from Danish ship (Picture source: Royal Danish Navy)


Harpoon is the jack of all trades in the American missile arsenal. Designed as a private venture air-launched missile by McDonnell Douglas, a variety of launchers and support equipment made it equally at home as a surface-launched and even subsurface-launched cruise missile.

Harpoon is launched by a three-second burn from its solid-fuel booster, after which it is at cruising speed and its air-breathing turbojet sustainer motor takes over.

At launch, the missile is programmed to fly toward a target up to 60 nautical miles away. A radio altimeter keeps the missile just above the wavetops until it nears the target. In the last seconds of flight, the missile closes in on the target using an active radar homer, and its 500-pound warhead explodes within the ship.

Air-launched versions dispense with solid-fuel boosters. Submarine-launched versions are expelled in a water-tight canister through torpedo tubes, to be fired as they broach the surface.

The missiles, which are used by the Royal Danish Navy, are highly accurate and effective at a range of up to 75 nautical miles. The missiles will pose a serious threat to the Russian Black Sea Fleet.