Posted on 02/15/2006 10:33:32 AM PST by NormsRevenge
C-O, I was kidding. It is indeed a perfectly valid question.
My guess is, the laser is in an infrared range that is less subject to Rayleigh Scatter than visible light.
They could market it just like generic perfumes: "Brimstone Air Launched Anti-Armor Weapon (Kills just like Lockheed's Hellfire)"
But still we can't find a way to stop the f*cking insurgents from planting roadside bombs along our convoy routes in the dead of night. What happened to the obervation balloons I read about at the outset of the war? What about the radio control planes equipped with cameras that can be monitored from a distance? We should have dozens or even hundreds of those flying around at night. It doesn't take an Air Force officer to fly one of those and keep an eye on a monitor, for crying out loud.
"Ah, a British Knock-off of our Hellfire."
Not a British knock-off. It was built by the American maker of the Hellfire for the British military.
Disclaimer: The HELLFIRE® Junior is not affiliated with or associated with Freeper® Junior.
The prime contract and weapon Design Authority is Alenia Marconi Systems (formerly GEC-Marconi) based in Stanmore and, while experienced in defence programmes, this is their first time as a weapon prime contractor. Their major sub-contractor is Boeing North American based in Duluth, Georgia who supply the missile bus and launcher electronics assembly. Flight Refuelling Ltd is the Design Authority for the launcher structure with Air Log Ltd, producing the missile container.
I'm sure this will be another in a long line of Army munitions success stories. The Hellfire is so reliable and deadly that ALL of the US Armed Forces have adopted it as an anti-tank/anti-armor/anti-bunker weapon for a wide variety of platforms.
GO ARMY!!!
The Norwegian's bought 'em for coastal defense too. Mounted them on fast attack patrol boats.
A PGM that would fit in a 2.75 FFAR tube is something that would be EXTREMELY useful, especially in the high-hot environmtnt where weapons loads are restricted (I won't say HOW restricted, but even an Apache can't bring everything but the kitchen sink, and a Cobra is tantamount to useless.
Even though they conceived this for copters, it would be a nice option for the Harrier too, which is so limited in load we preferred Euro F-16s (even though the Marine pilots were really good).
d.o.l.
Criminal Number 18F
"This long series of successful tests has validated key design and performance discriminators, demonstrating the unequalled maturity and lowest risk of our solution"
God, I hate PR writing.
I'll be impressed when they build a smart/LASER guided BB
Sweet.
The US Army experimented with them on HMMWV's with removable pedestals. They could be removed and set on the ground.
With the milimeter wave Hellfire (for use on the Longbow Apache), that missile is making a mark.
Yeah...pack the snout with willy pete and you can get 'fries'
with that..
I wonder if they can be carried by the existing 19 & 38 tube launchers, or if they need their own specialized launchers? It does seem pretty darn useful to have the ability to fire steerable rockets so you don't have to present yourself directly in front of a target and can instead engage from an indirect angle. Also seems like you could get you salvos off a lot quicker this way too.
Ha! Remember a few months back when some ingnoramous fish wrap reporter was trying to say that using WP was the same as engaging in all-out chemical warfare - caught like wildfire (especially in Europe) but burned out quickly.
Brilliant ... I will see what I can do.
"Their major sub-contractor is Boeing North American based in Duluth, Georgia who supply the missile bus and launcher electronics assembly."
On paper, yes. In reality it was a modified US version of the Hellfire, mostly done by Boeing.
BTW, the Boeing plant in Duluth, GA, was closed down and moved to St. Louis in 2000.
That's some serious pinpoint killing power.
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