Posted on 02/09/2006 6:06:11 PM PST by Enchante
Raytheon tests anti-RPG mini-missile
WASHINGTON, Feb. 8 (UPI) -- Raytheon has tested a small vehicle-mounted missile that intercepted a rocket-propelled grenade in a simulation of an ambush on the streets of Iraq.
The test of the Quick Kill "hit avoidance system" could lead to a deployable counterpunch to the ubiquitous weapon employed against U.S. troops before the end of the year.
"Quick Kill's speed, precision and effectiveness are truly amazing," boasted Raytheon Combat Systems Vice President Glynn Raymer. "It offers our current force a level of battlefield protection that no one has ever seen before."
The Feb. 7 test carried out at the New Mexico Institute of Mining and Technology test range involved an RPG fired at close range against a Stryker combat vehicle equipped with the Quick Kill system. The Stryker is a wheeled armored car that is projected as a mainstay of the Army's future order of battle; Stryker brigades have already been deployed to Iraq.
The Quick Kill includes a scanning radar that can detect an incoming threat and immediately vertically launches a precision-guided missile that pitches over, homes in on the RPG round, and then destroys it in the blink of an eye with minimal concussion and risk to the Stryker crew.
Raytheon called it the "equivalent of firing a weapon around a corner and hitting another weapon, while both speed through the air at hundreds of meters per second."
The company said it developed the system with its own funds and brought it from drawing board to field testing in about six months.
© Copyright 2006 United Press International, Inc. All Rights Reserved
Gimme two!
RPG's are in fact a low-tech weapon. They travel relatively slowing and must be fired at close range.
There also was an airbag system under development to stop them. This one sounds more promising. Now, to get a system which would get a bead on and automatically take out the moron firing it...
My favorite part of the movie is the line, ". . . not today." (That, and I like the part where the bad guys get plastered by everything from artillery to Apaches to machine guns to that odd-looking cruise missile.)
I wonder what the pricetag is?
RPG's are also notoriously vulnerable to cross-winds. It does something crazy like turn INTO the wind. The operator is warned up the ying-yang about this.
Damn cool video.
That's interesting. Now that you mention it, I guess any fin-stabilized rocket will do this. It's only a problem if the rocket is moving slowly enough for the wind to take effect before it strikes the target -- which I guess is the case with these RPG's.
Phalanx CIWS for RPGs! Kewl!
Phalanx CIWS for RPGs! Kewl!
Raytheon's Quick Kill Achieves a First; Decimates 'Enemy' RPG in Test with Precision Launched Munition
MCKINNEY, Texas, Feb. 8, 2006 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Raytheon Company's
new Quick Kill System is the first active protection system (APS) to destroy a
rocket propelled grenade (RPG) at close range, using a precision launched
warhead with a focused blast. The successful test occurred at a New Mexico
Institute of Mining and Technology test center Feb. 7, 2006.
Quick Kill is a new "hit avoidance" system designed by Raytheon to protect
combat vehicles and their warfighters from enemy fire. It destroys enemy
weapons with speed, surgical accuracy and minimal collateral damage. The
system is capable of instantly engaging projectiles fired from any location
around or above the vehicle.
The test featured an RPG launched at close range, simulating an engagement
of a Stryker combat vehicle equipped with Raytheon's Quick Kill system. The
Quick Kill's active electronically scanned array radar detected and tracked
the RPG and -- after computing its speed, trajectory and intercept point --
cued the precision-launched weapon to counterattack and destroy the RPG with
its focused blast warhead. The weapon performed a vertical "soft launch,"
pitched over, accelerated to the point of intercept, fired its warhead and
destroyed the RPG in mid-air. All of this occurred in the proverbial blink of
an eye.
Raytheon's approach to this technological breakthrough is equivalent to
firing a weapon around a corner and hitting another weapon, while both speed
through the air at hundreds of meters per second. Raytheon is the first
company to develop and then prove this concept of engagement by successfully
intercepting an RPG at close range.
"Quick Kill's speed, precision and effectiveness are truly amazing," said
Glynn Raymer, vice president of Raytheon Combat Systems. "It offers our
current force warfighters a level of battlefield protection that no one has
ever seen before."
"We wanted to prove the APS technology as quickly as possible and
accelerate its fielding to warfighters," said Johnny Garrett, director of
Raytheon Integrated Systems. "Using our own money, Raytheon took Quick Kill
from concept to reality in fewer than six months."
Raytheon Company (NYSE: RTN), with 2005 sales of $21.9 billion, is an
industry leader in defense and government electronics, space, information
technology, technical services, and business and special mission aircraft.
With headquarters in Waltham, Mass., Raytheon employs 80,000 people worldwide.
Notes to editors:
* Quick Kill's end-to-end testing occurred at the Energetic Materials
Research and Testing Center, at New Mexico Institute of Mining and
Technology near Socorro, N.M.
* "Soft launch" is a technique in which a weapon -- in this case a small
missile -- launches vertically from the combat vehicle, pitches over,
is propelled by its rocket motor and then fires its weapon. The radar
system sends threat track data to the weapon and enables surgically
precise target destruction. A soft launch eliminates concussion of the
vehicle and the troops inside it.
* RPGs are a major threat to U.S. troops and vehicles in Iraq and
Afghanistan; Quick Kill's active protection addresses the problem. Its
modular design facilitates installation on current U.S. Army platforms
such as Stryker Brigade Combat Team vehicles and on future Army
vehicles.
Contact:
Patricia Perlini
972.952.4033
SOURCE Raytheon Company
Web site: http://www.raytheon.com
I wonder if there is any reason this could not be used on helicopters as well.
Include as part of the initial auto-deploy, a follow-up second "warhead" which pops up right after the first has done what it does - and heads right down the same path armed, full speed ahead. Until it hits something to make it ... stop
Sounds damn good to me. Hopefully that will be an upgrade if not part of the integral initial offering.
Raytheon makes some decent weapons. It's a darned shame they are such a Democrat company. Their three top officers are complete dems:
Bill Swanson (CEO): $2,000 - Ted Kennedy, $1,000 - Richard Neal (D-MA 2) in 2000 cycle; $1,000 - Jane Harman (D-Ca), $500 - John Kerry (D-MA) in 2002 cycle; $1,000 - Ed Markey (D-MA), $1,000 - Marty Meehan (D-MA);
James Schuster (EVP): $500 - Tom Daschle (D-SD); $500 - John Kerry (D-MA) in 2002 cycle;
Tom Culligan (SVP): $500 - Bill Nelson (D-FL) in the 2006 cycle; $500 - Ed Markey (D-MA) in the 2004 cycle; $500 - Bill Nelson (D-FL), $250 - John Kerry (D-MA) in the 2002 cycle;
I find it hard to wish success on a company with that type of political leaning!
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