It made its first test flight in Wales earlier this year and is expected to be operational by 2010.Posted on 10/12/2008 10:00:59 AM PDT by BGHater
A revolutionary missile that can stalk a target until the perfect moment to strike is being developed by the Ministry of Defence for use against the Taliban in Afghanistan.
The so-called lurker bomb will also be able to shadow British troops for up to ten hours or 100 miles, ready to take out enemy targets with surgical precision at a minute’s notice.
The 12ft weapon – officially named Fire Shadow and made in Britain by leading missile manufacturer MBDA – will be operated by the Royal Artillery.
It made its first test flight in Wales earlier this year and is expected to be operational by 2010.
One of the biggest problems facing British troops in Afghanistan is Taliban ambushes. The insurgents often escape before a counter-attack can be launched because they know the Afghan terrain well, it takes time for air support to arrive, and the British are reluctant to use existing powerful missiles for fear of causing collateral damage such as killing civilians or flattening homes.
Fire Shadow’s ability to ‘stooge’ above the troops means it can be guided to a target within seconds. And its deadly precision requires only a small warhead of 50lb, compared with the RAF’s smallest bomb of 500lb.
The Army wants to be able to fire salvos of Fire Shadows, having several in the air at once to hit multiple targets. The missiles, also known as ‘loitering munitions’, are expected to replace some RAF patrols.
Fire Shadow can be guided to its target by troops on the ground with lasers, by operators in aircraft or helicopters, or by the Army’s new Watchkeeper surveillance drone.
Lurker bomb: The 12ft Fire Shadow missile can be launched up to 100 miles away from its target
(Excerpt) Read more at dailymail.co.uk ...
I think it depends on the situation. If you are engaged or about to start a raid or ambush, it would be fine.
Also, my guess is that you bring more bang to the party with this one.
1. New missile coming out soon = “Griffin”, 50 lbs, 3 pound warhead, ~ $5,000, can strike moving targets, chief target = trucks, thin-skinned vehicles
2. UAV’s might soon become air 2 air refuelable
3. SAR (synthetic aperature radar) units soon miniturized and cheap, with units weighing in at 10 pounds or less
4. One griffin missile is much smaller than Hellfire; three Griffins replace ONE hellfire on the Predator/Reaper/Sky Warrior pods
1. New missile coming out soon = “Griffin”, 50 lbs, 3 pound warhead, ~ $5,000, can strike moving targets, chief target = trucks, thin-skinned vehicles
2. UAV’s might soon become air 2 air refuelable
3. SAR (synthetic aperature radar) units soon miniturized and cheap, with units weighing in at 10 pounds or less
4. One griffin missile is much smaller than Hellfire; three Griffins replace ONE hellfire on the Predator/Reaper/Sky Warrior pods
Good news for our (only?) ally.
So after ten hours... Where do you drop the thing?
Via air 2 air UAV refuel, lengthy ingress/egress of UAV’s will become a thing of the past:
1. MISSION ENDURANCE —already something quite long— will skyrocket; UAV’s will simply STAY ON STATION —perhaps for WEEKS (for exotic platforms even months).
2. ENHANCED TARGET PICKINESS - No longer will operators yearn simply to “get rid of unused weapons” that are going to just get ferried back to base —they’ll get very discrimating, very picky about their targets since the platform will simply stay on station.
3. REACH GOAL - Air 2 air *REARMING*. Super hard, expensive, long-term, logistically complex, to say nothing of unprecidented. But it would take existing systems to an unimagined level of operational efficiency.
Via air 2 air UAV refuel, lengthy ingress/egress of UAV’s will become a thing of the past:
1. MISSION ENDURANCE —already something quite long— will skyrocket; UAV’s will simply STAY ON STATION —perhaps for WEEKS (for exotic platforms even months).
2. ENHANCED TARGET PICKINESS - No longer will operators yearn simply to “get rid of unused weapons” that are going to just get ferried back to base —they’ll get very discrimating, very picky about their targets since the platform will simply stay on station.
3. REACH GOAL - Air 2 air *REARMING*. Super hard, expensive, long-term, logistically complex, to say nothing of unprecidented. But it would take existing systems to an unimagined level of operational efficiency.
The US equivalent (NetFires LAM) is described here...
http://www.spacewar.com/news/LockMart_Netfires_Tests_Loitering_Attack_Missile_Warhead.html
I am soooo far over this whole being nice during time of war thing.
There’s an upgrade available that turns a Lurker into a Troll.
It’s my kid brother. I’m so proud of him.
We’re trying to win the civilians over to our side. One way it to be nice. The other is to make it extremely dangerous to cross us.
General Sherman, Bomber Harris and Curtis LeMay went with option B. They won.
HellFire is a 47 HE warhead and can be LASER guided.
I guess the Brits cannot affort the infrastructure for UAV ops....
Maybe a Delta Blimp with these (no booster needed) would work as well, loiter time then could be in weeks, not hours
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