THE US NAVY is expected to initiate a competition in 1998 for a new supersonic sea-skimming target (SSST), needed to test shipboard defences against the Russian Raduga 3M-80 (SS-N-22 Sunburn) anti-ship missile.
The USN now uses the AlliedSignal Aerospace Vandal extended-extended range (EER) target, remanufactured from Talos surface-to-air missiles. This is said closely to replicate the Sunburn.
AlliedSignal Target Systems in Mishawaka, Indiana, has been converting excess Talos missiles to Vandal targets since the 1970s, at an annual rate of between 25 and 30 units, but the USN has run out of Talos airframes and boosters.The company is under contract to deliver the final 120 EER Vandal targets, which will satisfy USN requirements through to 2001.
AlliedSignal is among a host of contractors hoping to supply the EER Vandal replacement to the USN. The firm is proposing the Sea Snake, an improved EER Vandal which would be manufactured new from the ground up.
The USN is evaluating an extended-range variant of the smaller M-31 (Kh-31/AS-17 Krypton) SSST which is developed by Russia's Zvezda Design and Experiment Bureau. Also interested is a Raytheon Aircraft/Allison Engine team, with a re-engined Beech AQM-37C missile target-system on offer.
The Mach 2 EER Vandal and improved Sea Snake have a range of 80km (45nm), but the follow-on target's range can be extended to exceed 90km. With incorporation of an inertial-navigation/global-positioning system, the Sea Snake would not be constrained by test ranges. AlliedSignal is looking at booster alternatives.
Earlier this year, the USN awarded McDonnell Douglas Aerospace - Zvezda's US partner - a $7.5 million contract to assess an extended-range M-31.
The test is part of the US Department of Defense's foreign comparative-testing programme. As part of an earlier evaluation, the MA-31, based on the Kh-31A anti-ship weapon, was successfully launched from a QF-4 drone.
The Allison J102-100 axial-flow turbojet, first run on a test stand in March 1991, could be an appropriate powerplant for a future SSST. J102 testing will resume later this year. In the SSST application, the J102 would replace the AQM-37C's Harley Davidson LRG-64 rocket engine.
Source: Flight International