Defense Technology International - September 2007 - (Page 43) WEAPONS ANTI-ARMOR GUNNING FOR HELLFIRE Hellfire rules in the U.S., but Europe seeks a replacement JORIS JANSSEN LOK • THE HAGUE W hile development of anti-armor missiles has stalled in the U.S. due mostly to the success of the Hellfire, Europe is embarking on an ambitious project for a do-anything missile to replace a wide range of systems, including Hellfire. France, Sweden and the U.K. are engaged in a collaborative study project toward a future land-combat missile system, known as the European Modular Missile (EMM), with a projected per-unit cost of less than €150,000 ($201,000). Results are expected to be in by the end of 2008. After that, development of the multipurpose missile could start, with initial operational capability as early as 2015. Germany, Italy and Spain may also be interested in EMM. The common requirement is for an all-weather missile that can engage targets up to 24 km. (15 mi.) away. The network-enabled EMM, capable of receiving in-flight target data from third-party observers, is to be launched from almost any platform, including manned and unmanned aircraft. Companies working on the project are MBDA in the U.K. and France, and Saab Bofors Dynamics in Sweden. At the same time, armed forces throughout Europe are not waiting to field replacements for their Cold War-era ATGW (antitank guided weapon) inventories. The main players in Europe today are MBDA, with the short-range Eryx, the upgraded Milan ER, the air-launched Brimstone and PARS-3; Saab Bofors Dynamics, with the new Next Generation Light Anti-armor Weapon (NLAW) and the older Bill-2; Lockheed Martin, with Javelin; Russia’s KBP, with the 9M133 Kornet; and Rafael Armament Development Authority of Israel, with the Spike family (also available as EuroSpike when offered through the EuroSpike GmbH. consortium, which includes Diehl BGT Defense and Rheinmetall). Sweden and the U.K. are about to introduce their new NLAW lightweight, shortrange, top-attack anti-armor missile system that was ordered by the British in 2002 and by Sweden in 2005. The Swedish military is using the designation Robot 57 (Rb 57) for the system. NLAW was selected in Britain over a competing offer by a team comprising MBDA, Lockheed Martin and Insys, which was proposing a variant of the U.S. company’s Predator. (Lockheed Martin’s FGM-172 Predator anti-tank missile, designed with inertial guidance and a top-attack fuze, was canceled by the Pentagon in 2003, after completion of the low-rate initial production stage. Remaining rounds have been converted to FGM-172B bunker-busters.) NLAW was developed in Sweden and will be produced in the U.K. A number of subcontractors, primarily British, are involved in production. Final assembly will take place at Thales Air Defense in Belfast, Northern Ireland. NLAW entered production during 2006 and was due to be operational this year, but that has been delayed until 2008 because of unspecified technical problems. Saab Bofors Dynamics is marketing the Bill-2, a wire-guided overfly/top-attack antitank missile system designed to combat moving and static targets at ranges out to 2,200 meters (7,218 ft.). It requires no lockon or cooling-down time before launch, giving it very short reaction times. For top attack, the missile features two interactive, dynamically compensated, vertically striking shaped charges. It contains both a dualsensor proximity fuze and an impact fuze. MBDA, Europe’s leading missile manufacturer, is engaged in a number of landcombat programs. On June 30, 2006, Germany awarded the procurement contract for the PARS 3 Long Range precision fire-and-forget weapon system to MBDA Deutschland (then called LFK) and Diehl BGT Defence. PARS 3 LR, the result of the 20-yearold Trigat-LR development program, is the main armament for the Tiger helicopter ordered by the German army, and is designed to defeat tanks from a distance of 6,000 meters. The €380-million production contract is managed by Parsys, a joint venture between MBDA and Diehl BGT Defence, and covers delivery of 680 missiles by 2014. France, however, elected to install Hellfire II on its 40-strong fleet of Hélicoptère d’Appui Destruction (HAD) Tigers, following the lead of Australia. Ground tests are due to start in October, with flight tests in 2008. The HAD force is scheduled to be complete by 2012. MBDA’s Eryx short-range ATGW continues to win orders, with France signing a Australian soldier fires a Lockheed Martin Javelin missile in Iraq. An improved Block 1 version of this fire-and-forget missile completed qualification tests in January. AUSTRALIAN DEFENSE DEPT. www.aviationweek.com/dti SEPTEMBER 2007 DEFENSE TECHNOLOGY INTERNATIONAL 43 http://www.aviationweek.com/dti
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