According to information published by the U.S. Navy on November 7, 2021, U.S. Navy patrol coastal ships conducted a live-fire exercise with the MK-60 Griffin guided-missile system in the Arabian Gulf to test crew proficiency and system functionality.
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Cyclone class Patrol (coastal) ship USS Tempest (PC 2), fires a Griffin Missile during a test and proficiency fire in the Persian Gulf (Picture source: U.S. Central Command)
U.S. Naval Forces Central Command (NAVCENT) conducted a previous Griffin guided-missile system live-fire exercise in the U.S. 5th Fleet area of operations in December 2019. The system was installed on all forward-deployed patrol coastal ships in 2013.
Exercise participants included patrol coastal ships USS Firebolt (PC 10), USS Thunderbolt (PC 12), USS Tempest (PC 2), USS Chinook (PC 9), USS Hurricane (PC 3), USS Whirlwind (PC 11), expeditionary mobile base platform ship USS Lewis B. Puller (ESB 3) and guided-missile destroyer USS Michael Murphy (DDG 115).
Some ships also conducted live-fire exercises with crew-served weapons to maintain operator proficiency and readiness for future missions.
The Griffin missile is a multi-platform, multi-service weapon that has a proven track record for successful rapid integration on land, sea, and air platforms.
It is available in two variants: Griffin A, which is an aft-eject missile, and Griffin B, which is a forward-firing missile. Raytheon continues to evaluate additional upgrades to Griffin that enable the warfighter.
The Griffin missile provides the user with flexible employment options through a simple, easy-to-operate, graphical user interface. The user can select from multiple flight profiles and fuzing modes. It also provides lethal effects and employs GPS-aided inertial guidance and a semi-active laser seeker for pinpoint accuracy.
