US OVERTURES seeking to entice the UK into a joint stand-off missile programme are unlikely to succeed, according to industry leaders already bidding for the UK requirement. A similar French offer has already been rebuffed.
The US Department of Defense is looking to fill the hole left by the cancellation of the Northrop Grumman AGM-137 Tri-Service Stand-off Attack Missile (TSSAM) with a more affordable weapon - possibly in association with a foreign partner.
There is no lack of contenders to replace the cancelled TSSAM, with the list including Northrop Grumman offering a lower-cost version of the long-range stealthy tactical weapon.
The Pentagon has also initiated transatlantic talks about a merger of the replacement Affordable Standoff Attack Missile (ASAM) programme with the UK's conventionally armed stand-off missile (CASOM) requirement.
US and UK officials, have discussed merging the ASAM with the CASOM, but a difference in contracting approaches, will almost certainly scuttle formation of a transatlantic weapons programme.
US Air Force Chief of Staff Gen. Ronald Fogleman says that the UK wants a firm, fixed-price contract, which may not fit into the ASAM procurement scheme. He adds, however, that the US and UK requirements are "pretty close".
UK industry sources say that France made a similar approach to develop jointly a long-range version of the Apache, but the UK Ministry of Defence is determined to have a competition.
USAF Gen. John Loh, head of the Air Combat Command, says that the USAF is buying additional Rockwell AGM-130, Joint Stand off Weapon (JSOW), Joint Direct Attack Munition, AGM-142 Have Nap and conventional air-launched cruise-missile weapons to fill the immediate gap.
Loh says that the USAF is drafting a mission-needs statement and operational-requirements document for the ASAM, and he says that candidates include a powered version of the JSOW "...or another version of TSSAM that's more affordable and works better".
ASAM concept, definition and demonstration/validation could begin as early as June. Fogleman seeks a streamlined research-and-development programme to expedite the engineering and manufacturing development phase. He wants cost and schedule considerations to drive the competition.
It has also become apparent that the US Navy, which replaced the stand-off air-launched TSSAM with the McDonnell Douglas Standoff Land Attack Missile-Expanded Response, could rejoin the multi-service project.
Fogleman has not talked to his naval counterparts, but he "...anticipates that the ASAM project will probably become a joint programme as we move down the road with the ASAM".
Source: Flight International