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Raytheon Eyes Production Contract for Laser-guided Rocket
November 15th, 2009 | Uncategorized | Posted by Pierre Tran
Raytheon expects to sign a production contract in the next two months with local partner Emirates Advanced Investments (EAI) to build a laser-guided rocket for the United Arab Emirates’ Apache helicopter fleet, said program director Jim Byrne.
A signing with the Abu Dhabi-based company would allow manufacture to go ahead in June or July of the first semi-active laser (SAL) guidance system, designed to give a precision capability to the unguided 2.75 inch rocket, he said.
Raytheon would build in the U.S. the 5,000 to 10,000 units intended for the UAE Armed Forces. “It’s a substantial production,” Byrne said.
The core technology for the semi-active laser has to be made in the U.S. because it is not exportable.
The cooperative development deal signed in May 2008 with Emirates Advanced Investments gave a second chance to Raytheon.
The U.S. company worked on the laser guided project for several years, only to see the U.S. Army cancel the program, dubbed Advanced Precision Kill Weapon System (APKWS).
“We are looking forward to putting this system into service in the near future,” EAI chief executive Hussain Al Hammadi said in a statement from the Dubai Air Show, which opened Nov. 15.
Raytheon is displaying the laser-guided rocket at the show.
Raytheon has developed the guided rocket with its UAE partner according to the U.S. Army’s requirement and hopes it can sell a fully developed and working laser guided rocket to the U.S. armed forces, as well as to export customers around the world.
Business development manager for Army systems, Mike Riley, estimates the world market for a precision guided 2.75 inch rocket is “huge, worth well over $1 billion over the next 10 years,” consisting of retrofits and new purchases.
Under the cooperative agreement, Emirates Advanced Investments has marketing rights to the laser-guided rocket for the Middle East region.
A French defense executive said cost of the guided rocket would be a key factor in procurement decisions.
Raytheon has focussed on the “lowest cost approach” for the guided weapon, Byrne said. An unguided rocket typically costs $3,000 to $5,000 per unit, a Raytheon executive said.
The company’s talks with countries, including Britain and France, which operate unguided rockets, show there is great interest in a low-cost precision weapon.
France has 2.75 inch rockets but in the 60 mm version, rather than the U.S. 70 mm standard, so special rockets or adapters might be needed for the French Army.
“Everyone’s interested,” said a Paris-based U.S. defense official, who likened the guided rocket to upgrading “dumb bombs.” There is interest because firing a current guided missile against, for example, a pick-up truck might be “militarily necessary” but is expensive, the official said.
But in using a lighter missile, there is a trade-off between destructive power and effectiveness against armored targets, the U.S. official said.
The French official said another application for guided rockets would be to mount them on a Véhicule Blindé Leger (VBL) scout car linked to a laser target designator hand-held by a dismounted soldier.
As part of the development program for the guided rocket, Raytheon successfully completed a first series of environmental test fires at extreme temperatures and short and long range at the Yuma proving grounds and is preparing for a next round of tests in December.
Raytheon plans to field the laser guided rocket in demonstration firings from the Kiowa OH-58, following the U.S. Army’s renewed interest in arming its scout helicopters with a light precision weapon.
In the UAE, safe separation tests have been conducted and launch firings from the Apache AH64-D are scheduled here in January or February.
BAE Systems has a development contract for a laser-guided rocket with the U.S. Navy. BAE said in a Nov. 12 statement the company had entered the final phase of testing on its advanced kill precision weapon system.
The tests were aimed at confirming production readiness of the rocket and its ability to meet U.S. Navy and Marine Corps requirements, which include safe helicopter launch and acquiring, tracking and hitting a laser designated target. Under the test program, a test fire from a Marine Corps Cobra helicopter hit a stationary target.
The final test phase is due to finish by the end of 2009, the company said. Lockheed Martin is continuing development of its direct attack guided rocket. Thales has a light precision missile for helicopters and UAVs.
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