Recently, new photos of the U.S. Navy's P-8 Poseidon maritime patrol aircraft appeared online. In these images, AGM-158 LRASM (Long Range Anti-Ship Missiles) can be seen mounted under the aircraft's wing.
The integration of such missiles significantly boosts the Poseidon's combat capabilities. Previously, the P-8 could only carry bombs, torpedoes, naval mines, and AGM-84 Harpoon anti-ship missiles, which have a range of 140–315 km depending on the variant.
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Now, with AGM-158 LRASM, the Poseidon gains the ability to strike ships at far greater ranges. The exact figure remains classified, but various sources indicate distances from 320 km up to 900 km. Compared to the Harpoon, LRASM also carries a much larger 453 kg warhead (Harpoon's ranges from 222 to 360 kg depending on the model).
Other advantages of LRASM include its low observability, making it harder to detect and intercept, and a more advanced guidance package combining passive radar, infrared, GPS, and inertial navigation.
Work on integrating LRASM into the P-8 platform began back in 2020, with reports indicating final certification by 2026. Earlier this year, in January, the Poseidon also completed a major Increment 3 Block 2 upgrade, which added several antennas and a new broadband satellite communication system. Boeing describes this as the first large-scale modernization of the aircraft.
The P-8 Poseidon can carry up to four AGM-158 LRASM, corresponding to its external hardpoints. Although the aircraft also has internal bays, no information has been released on integrating LRASM internally.
With these new weapons, the P-8 will be far more effective in countering China's expanding naval power. For context, in 2020 the Chinese Navy had about 80 large warships; today, it fields over 103.
Interestingly, the U.S. has already managed to deplete its LRASM stockpile, despite it being unclear what targets they were actually used against. That event marked the missiles first combat employment.
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