U.K., Pentagon To Team On Supersonic Missile

Aviation Week & Space Technology | December 2, 2002 | Douglas Barrie and Robert Wall

[Stand Watch Listen]

The Pentagon and the British Defense Ministry plan to collaborate on a next-generation supersonic strike weapon. Dubbed SHOC (stand-off high-speed option for counterproliferation), the project is intended to explore development of a Mach 3.5-4.5 missile with a 400-600-naut.-mi. range.

The effort is set to get underway in Fiscal 2004 as a Defense Dept. ACTD (advanced concept technology demonstration) with about $150 million in funding. Britain aims to contribute around 10% of the overall costs. Program go-ahead could come as early as this month.

Industry officials are optimistic the proposed development effort will receive funding when it's reviewed by senior Pentagon officials. "It's got a high level of support," said one U.S. industry representative. Moreover, the Defense Threat Reduction Agency already has identified funding and, with its partners, the bills for the project appear to be fully covered, he added.

In its air-launched configuration, SHOC will have a threshold weight of no more than 2,000 lb. Accuracy is on the order of a 3-meter circular error probable.

A minimum of two full system demonstration flights will be carried out under the three-year program; one will be air-launched, while the other will replicate a vertical launch from a submarine, although it will be carried out from land.

Boeing, Lockheed Martin, Raytheon and Orbital Sciences are likely bidders. Given the velocity, range and weight goals, ramjet propulsion probably will figure in most, if not all, of the bids. European missile manufacturer MBDA is bidding a ramjet engine design to Boeing.

Some of the bids may also reflect development efforts that have been carried out in the black.

SHOC appears to be the successor to JSSCM (joint supersonic cruise missile), an earlier ramjet-powered missile intended to address high-speed strike requirements. This was also intended as an ACTD.

The British Defense Ministry had been considering a role in the JSSCM ACTD, with involvement in the integral rocket ramjet, as well as a thermobaric penetrating warhead intended as a payload option. U.K. participation in JSSCM was predicated upon involvement at the total systems level; participation in the propulsion package only was deemed unacceptable. Consideration was also given in London to including the missile as part of its intended weapons inventory for the then Joint Strike Fighter.

The JSSCM program was intended to produce a weapon capable of being used to rapidly attack hard and deeply buried targets. The target set also embraced sites associated with weapons of mass destruction, their means of delivery, and generic time-critical, high-value targets. SHOC takes on this mantle. A minimum penetration of 33 ft. is required through concrete, with a desired capability of 55 ft.

The U.S. is eyeing several launch platforms for the fire-and-forget system, including the F/A-18E/F and P-3 for the Navy, internal carriage on B-1Bs and external carriage on B-52Hs for the Air Force, as well as submarine launch using the vertical launch system.

The long-term plan already is to enhance the missile after it's fielded. High-interest items are the ability to retarget the missile once it has been launched, as well as using different warhead concepts.

One of the high-interest items for the ACTD partners is devising a relatively low-cost system that maximizes performance. To that end, competitors are effectively being encouraged to provide cost/performance tradeoffs with regard to their proposals. Reduced missile performance also would be considered if it were to provide operational advantages--for instance, allowing an F/A-18E/F to be recovered on an aircraft carrier while carrying two of the weapons.

The U.K., under programs such as Spear (selective precision effects at range) and FOAS (future offensive air system), is studying a number of extended-range air-to-surface weapon needs. Participation in SHOC would provide access to technology potentially applicable to elements of both programs.

Within the context of a cruise missile element of FOAS, for example, there has been discussion regarding at what point the U.K. Defense Ministry would look beyond subsonic platforms to supersonic or hypersonic weaponry. Participation in SHOC would provide the U.K. with access to one route to eventually fielding a Mach 4-plus weapon.

However, in parallel to participation in SHOC, the Defense Ministry has also begun to seed-fund further development of its Storm Shadow subsonic air-launched cruise missile. This could culminate in a significantly extended-range version being fielded beyond 2010, likely with a new Rolls-Royce powerplant, which is being developed under the small unmanned aerial vehicle engine banner. SHOC also would provide a potentially valuable addition to the Royal Navy's weapons inventory, as an adjunct to subsonic cruise missiles.

[One More Time]

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[gcruse]

A little teaming up with Russia might also be in order, inasmuch as the Russians have been producing supersonic antiship missles for years, first the Sunburn then the next generation Yakhont. One also needs make note of the fact that the Russians offered to sell the US some of these missiles but Clinton turned them down. More legacy of the Traitor.