SPECIAL REPORT

PRECISION STRIKE
May 6, 2013 www.defensenews.com
TEXTRON DEFENSE SYSTEMS

Speed, Precision
By PAUL McLEARY WASHINGTON New fights and new ways of fighting require new capabilities. Designing those capabilities for unknown future combat is a complex challenge, but two attributes find utility on any battlefield: speed and precision. With that in mind, the US armed services and their industry partners are developing a variety of lightweight, precision-guided munitions that can be carried by individual soldiers and fired quickly in urban or austere battlefields, or launched from small UAVs. US Army units have already fielded the first generation of such a capability, having deployed AeroVironments Switchblade hand-launched munition to Afghanistan in the fall of 2012. The camera-enabled, 6-pound, 24-inch-long Switchblade is small and light enough to fit in a backpack. The tube-launched UAV can be guided to its intended target using a hand-held ground control station before detonating its explosive round by simply flying into the target. The tiny killer can fly for up to 10 minutes. Army officials confirmed in February that the Switchblade officially became lethal earlier this year, scoring several hits on enemy targets. Its gained some notoriety of its own on both sides, including among the insurgents that it has been targeting, said Col. Pete Newell, then-head of the Armys Rapid Equipping Force. The Switchblade is the first take on what the service is calling the Lethal Miniature Aerial Munition System (LMAMS) program. Last August, the Army issued a request for information to move forward with the program.

Quick Strike: The lightweight BattleHawk loitering munition is designed so a soldier can take the system from his backpack and fire within 90 seconds. A video camera built into its nose allows ground troops to pilot it over rooftops or hills.

US Army Expanding Soldier Attack Options

While an urgent battlefield request for more Switchblades in Afghanistan is winding its way through the Pentagons bureaucracy, the LMAMS program is asking for more than what the Switchblade can currently provide. Among other things, the service wants a munition that can loiter for up to an hour with a range of up to 6 miles. With its eye on LMAMS as well as a host of similar requirements from the US Marine Corps and Special Operations Command, Textron Defense Systems has developed its
See LIGHT MUNITIONS, Page 14

LIGHT MUNITIONS
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own soldier-fired loitering munition that can be controlled from a tablet or smartphone device, allowing soldiers to change the birds course simply by tapping on the touchscreen. Dubbed the BattleHawk, the 5.5-pound system has been demonstrated to the Army and Special Operations Command. Its also gearing up for a second appearance at an annual Army field exercise at Fort Benning, Ga., early next year. Henry Finneral, vice president for Advanced Weapons & Sensors at Textron, said the system has been designed so a dismounted soldier can take the 3.5-pound munition and the 2-pound launching tube out of his backpack and fire it within 90 seconds. The 40mm warhead also contains a dual-mode fuze, enabling either height-of-burst or point detonation. Our bird is fairly unique in that it has a carbon-fiber wing that wraps around the fuselage, Finneral said, so when fired from the launch tube, the wings snap out to better control the flight. The 18-inch-long UAV can reach speeds of 100 knots, and the BattleHawk can loiter for up to 30 minutes at a range of 5 kilometers. If the bomb doesnt find a target, it can self-destruct, Finneral said, instead of crashing and blowing up. While these precision-strike technologies provide invaluable capabilities to the infantryman, the lightweight systems are still an added load that must be lugged around on dismounted patrols. Well, theres an app for that. Instead of calling in division-level assets such as Predator UAVs, the ground forces are laying plans to attach precision munitions to small UAVs such as Ravens and Pumas, which can be controlled at the brigade level and below.

One possibility is Raytheons Pyros, a 13pound, 22-inch-long, air-launched bomb with a 5-pound fragmentation warhead that has been specially designed for UAVs. JR Smith, a Raytheon senior manager of business development, said that during testing last year with a laser targeting system, accuracy was within a meter of the target, while with GPS guidance, it came within 3 meters. Smith said the company is aiming to have the Pyros mounted on the Armys Shadow UAV and the Marine Corps RQ-21, which is still in development. Weve taken a hard look at those platforms, he said, adding that putting them on small UAVs is not as simple as just attaching a missile to a wing. Raytheon has developed a 2.5-pound launch rack and an electronic interface to link the weapon to the UAV, which has proved out on its own testbed UAV. Testing has proved the capability as mature, Smith added, saying that literally, its a matter of days to put that stuff in and start demonstrating for potential clients. General Dynamics has developed a version of its 81mm mortar that can be fitted on small UAVs, and has demonstrated the capability to the Army. Joe Buzzett, director of technology programs at GDs Ordnance and Tactical Systems, said the company has fired 10 or 12 GPS-guided missiles from a Tiger Shark UAV that landed within 7 meters of the target grid. The guidance navigation and control has all been demonstrated, he said. The service could put two of the 10-pound mortars under each wing of a Shadow UAV. The technology is there and ready to be used, industry representatives said, but as Buzzett put it, its the requirements that really are whats evolving, as American forces move from two relatively static conflicts to unknown future battlefields. N Email: pmcleary@defensenews.com.

USAF Budgets $841M For Tactical Missiles

WASHINGTON The US Air Force has requested $841 million in the fiscal 2014 budget for tactical missiles, a jump of nearly $200 million from proposed 2013 levels. The money would fund the purchase of 1,164 missiles, up from 991 in the 2013 proposed base budget. In total, the US Defense Department wants to spend $5.34 billion for missiles, spacecraft, rockets and related equipment. The largest financial request is for 199 of Raytheons advanced medium-range air-toair missiles (AMRAAMs), for which the service requested $340 million. The US Navy, which also uses AMRAAMs, has requested 54 missiles. The budget request also notes that foreign military sales of the AIM-120C7 model are projected at the rate of 200 per year The Air Force has also requested $291.1million for 183 joint air-to-surface standoff missiles (JASSMs) designed by Lockheed Martin. An autonomous, air-to-ground precision weapon, the JASSM comes in two models: the baseline version and the extended-range (JASSM-ER) model, which improves the range by more than two and a half times. In the fiscal 2014 request, 80 of the missiles will be of the ER variety, but going forward, the service expects to phase out purchases of the baseline model by fiscal 2017. Other tactical weapons the Air Force has requested include 225 Sidewinder missiles for $119.9 million, 144 small diameter bombs at $42.3 million, and 413 Hellfire missiles designed for use by Predator unmanned aircraft. The Hellfires will cost $48.5 million.N Aaron Mehta

Rafael Readies New PGM For Fixed, Moving Targets

By BARBARA OPALL-ROME TEL AVIV Israels state-owned Rafael is expanding its SPICE family of autonomous, jam-resistant, surgical standoff weapons with a new 250-pound missile against fixed and moving targets. Now in advanced development, the newest version of the companys Smart, Precision Impact, CostEffective (SPICE) weapon known here as SPICE250 features the same day-night electrooptical seeker and advanced scene-matching algorithms that allow 1,000-pound and 2,000-pound SPICE missiles to autonomously home in on preplanned targets some 100 kilometers away. Like the much larger, combatproven SPICE weapons, the downsized SPICE250 is designed for one-shot, one-kill without having to rely on satellite guidance or target coordinates, industry sources here said. The new SPICE250 features advanced data link communications, a multieffect warhead and inherentbombdamageassessment capabilities that optimize the standoff system for strikes against moving targets. We believe SPICE250 will be a compelling extension of the SPICE family. Its a versatile system relevant for all target sets, with the ability to engage a single pixel and nothing else, said Yuval Miller, Rafaels director for air-to-surface systems. Miller said the SPICE250 has the potential to answer operational needs now supported by a combination of munitions, including laser- and GPS-guided standoff penetration weapons. It could very well change the way air forces organize their inventory and build their force, he said. Miller said the firm already is under contract to supply SPICE250 to the Israel Air Force and is working to expand its portfolio of international customers. The Rafael executive said the

new weapon could be integrated on a variety of platforms, with initial plans focused on F-16Is. In an interview following the November 2012 Pillar of Defense campaign in Gaza, an Israeli Air Force (IAF) brigadier general said the service aims to enhance its air-toground strike arsenal with systems offering greater precision and multimission flexibility. The officer, head of the air branch on the IAF staff, said the service employed nearly 100 percent precision-guided munitions against 1,400 separate targets during the eight-day Pillar of Defense operation, with success rates in significant excess of 90 percent. The IAF general did not mention SPICE or other specific weapons slated for multiyear funding, but credited local industry for its intimate knowledge of our current and future operational requirements. The Rafael SPICE, particularly the 2000-pound version, was proven in Israels 2006 war in Lebanon; the December 2008-January 2009 Cast Lead operation in Gaza; and most recently in the Pillar of Defense anti-rocket war in Gaza. Israeli defense and industry sources said the SPICE250 would provide a locally made option to re-

quirements now answered by the GBU-39 Small Diameter Bomb (SDB) by Chicago-based Boeing or the new SDB II by Waltham, Mass.based Raytheon. Israel has procured hundreds of the Boeing SDBs for launch against fixed targets from F-15Is. The Raytheon SDB II is slated for low-rate production later this year and has not yet been offered to foreign customers. In addition to its planned use against moving targets by a broad range of manned fighters and bombers in the U.S. inventory, SDB II has been proposed for launch by the MQ-9 Reaper UAV.

SPICE1000 for JSF

In parallel, Rafael plans to integrate its 1,000-pound SPICE on Israels planned fleet of F-35I Joint Strike Fighters (JSF). The US government has not yet authorized Israel to integrate its own weapons into the F-35s internal bays, but a defense source in Washington said permission is likely to be codified in negotiations toward a follow-on contract for remaining aircraft. There are understandings that could be implemented in follow-on agreements, a US defense source said. We understand Israels desire to integrate unique weaponry and

subsystems [into the F-35] and they understand our concerns, especially regarding the risks involved in making changes to such a highly integrated fifth generation fighter. He added that that prospective US permission would likely be limited to JSFs destined for Israel, and probably would preclude Israeli exports of internally carried JSF weaponry and subsystems. Our intention is to have the 1,000-pound version actually integrated into the bay, Miller said. It will take time, but there is a specific intention by our IAF customers to do this. With its 100-kilometer precision standoff capabilities and 1,000pound warhead, Miller said SPICE1000 offers added value not yet planned for the F-35. The IAF is convinced of its added value and is working with the relevant Israeli and US authorities to make it happen, he said. According to the website of JSF prime contractor Lockheed Martin, internally carried strike systems now include: 500-, 1,000- and 2,000-pound Joint Direct Attack Munitions; GBU-12 Paveway IIs, the AGM-154 Joint Standoff Weapon (JSOW), SDBs; and SDB IIs. N Email: bopallrome@defensenews.com.