Northrop Grumman's Viper Strike munition is close to making its operational debut in Iraq with the US Army's newly weaponised RQ-5 Hunter unmanned air vehicle. The precision-guided weapon has also gained a foothold in the US Special Operations Command, as a potential new system for the Lockheed Martin AC-130 Hercules gunship.
Army deputy chief of staffLt Gen Richard Cody is expected to approve an order authorising the deployment of 33 Viper Strike munitions to equip two Hunter UAVs, says Northrop Grumman Viper Strike director John Miller.
The pending deployment comes about one year after Northrop Grumman first began testing its derivative of the company's Brilliant Anti-Tank submunition. The company replaced the weapon's acoustic and infrared sensors with a laser seeker. The 1.8kg (4lb) warhead is intended to be lethal against soft targets, such as trucks and individual rooms in buildings, but reduce the risk of collateral damage.
Special Operations has named Viper Strike as its top candidate for an advanced concept technology demonstration, and hopes that the weapon will allow the AC-130 to destroy small targets from altitude. The gunships are now required to drop below 10,000ft (3,050m) to attack targets.
Northrop Grumman is, meanwhile, adding a global positioning system receiver and reducing the Viper Strike's size from 20kg to about 11.3kg for integration with smaller UAVs such as AAI's RQ-7 Shadow, says Miller.
STEPHEN TRIMBLE / WASHINGTON DC
Source: Flight International
