Dr. Jeffrey Lewis Profile picture
Distinguished Scholar of Global Security at @middlebury, staff at @fpri & @JamesMartinCNS, host of the @ACWpodcast, member @theNASEM CISAC, ex-ISAB at @StateDep

Aug 14, 2020, 6 tweets

Just a little context on these two images. This is a bit of trolling, which is pretty normal for Billingslea who doesn't have much else to do these days. At least he's wearing a mask.

The object is a Mk 41 vertical launch system (VLS) rigged up like the one used for the ground-launched Tomahawk missile test flight to >500 km in August 2019. There is a placard with images of that test just to make sure you get the message.

This is probably Lockheed Martin's plant in Middle River, MD, which makes the Mk 41 VLS. Here's a picture of the ribbon-cutting in 2016.
news.lockheedmartin.com/2016-03-24-Loc…

This is not the plant that makes the Tomahawk missile, but rather the plant that makes the thing that launches it. The Mk 41 VLS is primarily used on ships, and can launch a variety of missiles. Here is a fact sheet.
lockheedmartin.com/content/dam/lo…

The flags on the wall are Mk 41 VLS customers. The Saudi flag is freaking some people out, but Riyadh bought the VLS in 2014.
defense.gov/Newsroom/Contr…

So, just to be clear, the flags do NOT represent states that will be supplied with intermediate-range cruise missiles nor do they represent states that will host US intermediate-range cruise missiles. These are just countries with Navies that have purchased the Mk 41 VLS.

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