The coastal warship, based in San Diego, has successfully demonstrated the ability to attack ground targets with advanced Hellfire missiles, the Navy said.

The USS Montgomerya variant of the trimaran class of light warships, shot three AGM-114L Longbow Hellfire May 12 missiles to hit a ground target in several nautical miles.

The Navy did not say where the test took place, other than that it was in the Pacific.

“This test proved the next important step in increasing the mortality of the coastal warship,” said Dustin Lonera, commander of “Montgomery”. “Using our speed and small draft, we are now uniquely optimized to bring this level of firepower closer to shore to support our fighters and operators on the beach.”

Missiles were added to warships in 2019 for use against assault ships. Now they can be fired at ground targets. Each ship carries 24 missiles.

The Longbow Hellfire missile was developed based on army anti-tank weapons. It has a range of more than 5 miles and uses advanced laser guidance.

The trimaran version of coastal warships is 418 feet long and can develop speeds of more than 50 miles per hour. A total of 19 ships are planned, and all will be based in San Diego.

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