PAUL LEWIS / WASHINGTON DC
Former secret programme is aimed at destroying moving vehicles with high accuracy
Lockheed Martin has taken the wraps off a classified programme revealing a new precision-guided munition that it plans to demonstrate as part of the next phase of Northrop Grumman's Affordable Moving Surface Target Engagement (AMSTE) programme. AMSTE is aimed at developing a capability to employ low-cost weapons to destroy moving vehicles without causing collateral damage.
The Precision Direct Attack Munition (PDAM) and its On-target Weapon and Long-range (OWL) variant are described by Lockheed Martin as an innovative family of seekerless precision-guided bombs. The weapon employs a tail-plane and extendible wing with control surfaces for extended range and manoeuvering to interdict evasive ground targets. The absence of a seeker or onboard targeting sensor "dramatically" lowers the system's cost, claims the company.
AMSTE instead fuses multiple offboard data from synthetic aperture radars and ground moving-target indicator radars to provide a precision fire control tracking solution on moving targets. Real time information is datalinked to the weapon in the air in order to engage the target. During the initial phase of the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency-funded programme, the system demonstrated a direct hit on a target moving at 50km/h (30mph).
Northrop Grumman has won a $23 million deal to demonstrate the next stage of AMSTE, after being selected in September following a competition with Raytheon.
This year-long phase will employ multiple platforms including the Northrop Grumman B-2 bomber, E-8C Joint Surveillance Target Attack Radar system, Global Hawk and a BAC One-Eleven test bed equipped with the Lockheed Martin F-35 radar, along with a US Navy Boeing F/A-18 and the APY-6 radar equipped P-3 Hairy Buffalo test aircraft. In addition to OWL, the next test could also include the Joint Direct Attack Munition.
This will be followed by a third three-year phase to demonstrate the system in an operational environment using the full battle management suite, says Bill McCall, Northrop Grumman AMSTE senior programme manager.
The intent is gradually to increase the degree of difficulty by targeting faster vehicles in more difficult terrain.
Source: Flight International
