European missile house MBDA's US arm is looking at the possibility of using technology from a UK loitering munition in a low-cost cruise missile it is studying for the US Navy. But the Affordable Weapon System (AWS) is funded by money added to the US defence budget by Congress, and its future is uncertain.
The AWS is intended to be a ship- and air-launched missile capable of carrying a 90kg (200lb) payload more than 1,000km (540nm) before loitering for several hours. The weapon's unit cost target is $250,000 in 2008 dollars, or less than one-third that of the navy's Raytheon Tactical Tomahawk land-attack cruise missile.
MBDA and L-3 Titan have been awarded year-long study contracts worth around $6 million each to analyse missions and define system architectures for the AWS. Titan has been working on the AWS for several years, conducting demonstration flights in late 2002, but the programme was opened to competition earlier this year.
MBDA is looking at the Fireshadow concept unveiled in September by the UK's Team Loitering Munitions. "The UK programme is very similar, and some technologies developed there that are closer to demonstration may be viable - if we can get customer permission," says Chuck Ungermann, the company's vice-president business development.
MBDA's US arm is also looking at applying its Active Diamond Back loitering munition concept to AWS. The company has just completed full-scale windtunnel testing of the design, which has a deployable and extendable joined tandem wing with variable aspect ratio and artificial-muscle flight controls.
Source: Flight International