ARRRGGG! The Russians invented something nasty! US Armed Force needs these too.
Posted on 04/25/2005 4:25:28 PM PDT by Wiz
One of the nastier weapons in the Russian arsenal is getting an unmanned spotter. According to C4ISR Journal, the Smerch multiple launch rocket system (MLRS) can now be stuffed with a drone that spots a target 90 kilometers away in just four minutes.
The 92-pound unmanned aerial vehicle, or UAV, is fired in one of the Smerch's 300 mm rockets. Once it gets to its target, it can loiter for about a half-hour at an altitude of 600 to 1800 feet.
(Excerpt) Read more at defensetech.org ...
MLRS refers (exclusively) to the US-developed M270 family.
Russians have multiple rocket launchers (generic term) or MRLs
What would a metal storm cannon do to this UAV while loitering? As I'm sure many of you on FR know, (and are tired of hearing) I see this weapon as a jack-of-all-trades godsend for multiple future combat situations.
Huh! Easy fix! Just put up a "NO LOITERING" sign !!! ;-))
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I thought James Bond wiped out SMERSH long ago.
It would slice it into titanium confetti (but I'm sure they were fly it at a low altitude and avoid the cannon to the extent possible). My guess is that it will have a much lower operational minimum altitude than 600 feet when operating over smooth terrain.
Loitering all day long won't be much help if it's BEING JAMMED.
"Loiter and attack munition" and "Precision attack munition":
Lockheed Martin MLRS, HIMARS and MFOM activities are also supporting tomorrow's Objective Force structures and capabilities.
One key component is the LAM. Currently in technology demonstration status, LAM will provide a 280-km range with 45-minute loiter time.
Initial design activities indicate that 12 LAMs could be packaged in a single HIMARS launch pod. Tactical missile systems like LAM are also seen as providing a key component of the emerging "system of systems" structure that will comprise the pivotal Future Combat System (FCS).
During his AUSA presentation, Dr. Allen Adler, director of the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA), noted, "We will have a network of sensors and we will also have a network of fires."
He described a key concept within the network of fires that would feature "a vertically launched missile system that could be brought in close in the theater [of operations] to engage targets very quickly."
Known as "Netfires," the DARPA-managed network of fires program (jointly funded by DARPA and Army Science and Technology activities) targets the development and tests a containerized, platform-independent multi-mission weapon concept as an enabling technology element for FCS.
By what?
The idea behind LAM/PAM is that you fire a bunch of munitions, let them fly around for a while near expected enemy areas, and then have them quickly attack targets.
The problem is:
a) maintaining comms with the munition, because, by definition, the munition is where you *aren't*
b) Given the fuel consumption/loiter time, having enough space on the munition for actual *explosives*
It's a DARPA run program, so expect it to be expensive, inpractible, and fall far short of it's objectives.
-R
By what?
Oh, my naieve friend - by the EMP from Iran's nuclear missiles detonating over our heads of course! :)
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