Northrop Grumman exploited the recent Combined Naval Event (CNE) conference in Farnborough, UK, to unveil a new proposal for Advanced Anti-Radiation Guided Missile - Extended Range (AARGM-ER) missiles to be launched from submerged submarines.

Such a capability would enable submarines fitted with the relevant vertical launch tubes to fire highly supersonic anti-radar missiles that would represent an additional anti-ship attack capability or even a way for submarines to contribute to the suppression of enemy air defences in the most complex and dangerous scenarios.

The AARGM-ER obviously needs to be launched outside of the water for its motor to work. This is where the truly key part of the proposal comes in: the Stealthy Affordable Capsule System (SACS), a vertically launched submersible capable of carrying a wide range of non-marinized payloads.

This advanced capsule has its own propulsion and controls: contra-rotating propeller blades allow it to clear the submarine and then loiter beneath the surface for an unspecified amount of time, giving the submarine the chance to leave the area before the capsule climbs to the surface to launch its non-marinized payload.

Work on such capsules dates back at least to the early 2000s. Initial tests were completed in 2003 with a capsule used to release non-marinized UAS into the air.

The initial focus was on the Flexible Payload Modules for the fleet of 4 OHIO converted in SSGNs, and it was one of those four boats, USS GEORGIA (SSGN-729), that tested a capsule in 2005.

The Flexible Payload Module designed to exploit the re-purposed TRIDENT tubes on the SSGNs has ended up being equally relevant to the Wide Diameter Tubes fitted to all VIRGINIA SSNs from Block III boats onwards(2 such tubes in the bow, replacing the previous, separate TOMAHAWK cells), and especially the 4 tubes in the Virginia Payload Modules.

The maturation of the capsule launcher would enable the embarkation of a wide variety of Effects on the VIRGINIA SSNs, and in the future on the UK-Australia SSN-AUKUS, which are to be fitted with an unspecified number of large diameter tubes of US origin.

AARGM-ER is an interesting payload option, but UAV and other strike weapons could potentially follow to exploit the same launch method.

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