Course-changing missiles tested for LCS

Course-changing missiles tested for LCS

By Kris Osborn - Staff writer

Posted : Thursday Dec 6, 2007 6:24:42 EST

FORT BLISS, Texas — The Army has begun initial test firing of prototypes of a next-generation precision land missile that is able to be redirected toward new targets while in flight and can hit targets on-the-move up to about 24 miles (40 kilometers) away, Army officials said.

The Non-Line-of-Sight Launch System (NLOS-LS), slated to field with other Army Future Combat Systems’ so-called spinout technologies by 2010, is designed with both GPS and infrared guidance systems. Tested at White Sands Missile Range, N.M., the NLOS-LS launcher carries 15 Precision Attack Missiles (PAM) able to fire on targets; they are 117.5-pound projectiles designed with a semi-active laser seeker and automatic targeting, said Army Col. Douglas Deaver, NLOS-LS program manager.

“The PAM is designed to hit a moving target, which takes us to the next evolutionary step for missile systems. It is also designed so that once the missile is in the air, a soldier can use his laser and lase two spots to get the track of the missile. He can tell the missile while it is in flight to keep adjusting where it is looking. Then the missile will switch to IR (infrared) at the end and get the optimum hit,” Deaver said.

Unlike most precision munitions now in the Army's arsenal, which fly a specific pre-determined course to a target, the PAM missiles can change course in-flight.

“With the PAM missile we can actually tell it which way to fly. You can fly it down the middle of the road in Baghdad and hit a target on the other side of town. We can shape the trajectory and use waypoints to guide it all the way," Deaver said.

The Army is now assessing how many NLOS-LS systems will be needed as well as the logistical impact of fielding the system.

“We are going through a log demo this week which starts the initial logistics training on how we are going to field this system in the future and how we are going to field it,” Deaver said.

The next set of tests is slated for February, Deaver said.

Weighing roughly 3,100 pounds, the Container Launch Unit is designed for rapid deployability onboard a C-130, UH-60 Black Hawk, CH-46 Chinook, CH-53 and V-22 Osprey.

In 2006, the Navy signed a memorandum of agreement with the Army, making NLOS-LS a joint program. The Navy plans to use NLOS-LC on Littoral Combat Ships.

Future variants of the NLOS-C include a Loiter Attack Missile (LAM) for air defense, and a non-lethal variant.

Find Navy Times article here.