Raytheon Missile Systems (RMS) will use the Dubai airshow to launch a marketing campaign for a new laser-guided version of the AGM-65 Maverick air-to-ground missile.
Maverick has been around for more than 30 years and production of an earlier laser-guided version, the AGM-65E ceased around 12 years ago. However, current operations in the Middle East have prompted the development of the new variant. The AGM-65E was previously used only by the US Marine Corps. Now, the US Air Force intends to purchase “several hundred” of the new version, with production due to begin in late 2009.
The USAF’s decision comes as a result of its urgent operational need to combat fast-moving targets in urban environments, says Chuck Pinney, Raytheon’s director of Maverick and advanced cruise missiles. Typical targets are light vehicles that are used to mount mortar or rocket attacks on Coalition forces in Iraq and then move rapidly from their firing positions.
RMS has invested company funds to mature the laser guidance system and this will be mated to centre-aft sections of existing missiles. Several Mavericks almost 30 years old have been taken from US Navy stocks, examined and found to be in virtually the same condition as when they were delivered, says Vigue.
The new laser guidance system has advantages in meeting the new operational requirement over existing electro-optical or infrared-guided versions of Maverick, which can be exposed to significant background clutter in urban environments. With the new variant, “if you can put a laser spot on the target, you then just lock and launch,” and the guidance system does the rest. The accuracy of the system minimises collateral damage, adds Vigue.
Several Middle East air arms, including Saudi Arabia, the UAE, Bahrain, Jordan, Oman and Egypt each have several hundred Mavericks in stock and these are candidates for upgrading.
The new variant, which is likely to carry the designation AGM-65E2, has the added advantage of minimal integration problems with existing platforms with no changes to the launcher or the operational flight programme software, he adds.
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Source: Flight Daily News
