Ramon Lopez/WASHINGTON DC
The US Navy is proposing to field further upgrades of the Raytheon AGM-88 HARM anti-radiation missile (ARM) allowing it to engage non-emitting targets, receive data from satellites and fly further and faster.
The technology developments are part of navy funded work by Raytheon on the Advanced Anti-Radiation Guided Missile (AARGM) advanced technology demonstration (ATD) and Quick Bolt AGM-88 advanced concept technology development (ACTD).
These ongoing guidance section improvement programmes will be followed by the High Speed ARM demonstration, in which AGM-88s in inventory will be fitted with powerplants providing longer range and higher speed.
A request for proposals for the engine upgrade demonstration is to be released in September. Candidate engines ready for consideration include liquid-fuel ramjets, variable-flow ducted rockets and solid-fuel rocket motors.
Flight testing would run from 2002-5, with service entry possible by 2010. The missile would also be redesigned for internal carriage in the Joint Strike Fighter, Lockheed Martin/Boeing F-22 Raptor and unmanned combat air vehicles (UCAV). AARGM would be able to attack non-emitting radars through use of a dual-mode seeker, incorporating a passive anti-radiation homing sensor with a conformal antenna coupled to an active W-band millimetre-wave terminal seeker and a GPS satellite navigation/inertial measurement unit guidance suite.
The Quick Bolt ACTD incorporates the downlink of signal intelligence information from satellites direct to the missile before launch, and the uplink of missile seeker data via satellite, before impact, to enable assessment of the weapon's effectiveness.
The USN is seeking funding to field AARGM and Quick Bolt upgrades in existing AGM-88 missiles in 2007.
Germany, Italy and the USA continue work on the International HARM Upgrade Programme (AGM-88D Block IV), which is integrating a GPS/INS into the missile. The work involves Alenia Marconi Systems and BGT as well as Raytheon. The weapon recently passed its critical design review.
A full rate production decision is set for June 2003 with initial fielding scheduled for the following year. A portion of USN HARMs will be converted to the AGM-88D, providing the US military with a "high-low" mix of AGM-88s, although Italy and Germany are expected to convert all their HARMs into the upgraded variant.
Source: Flight International
