Apkws II
El nuevo APKWS II Advanced Precision Kill Weapon System (APKWS), es un derivado directo del cohete para helos, denominado hydra con un nuevo sistema en el cual se le adisiona una cabeza de guiado, para convertirlo en un misil de bajo costo, el mismo es de laser semi-activo, capaz de golpear blancos estaticos y en movimiento con alta presicion, el mismo consta del tradicional 70mm sin guia llamado hydra con el sistema BAE System's distributed Aperture Semi-Active Laser Seeker (DASALS).Las pruebas consistieron en lanzar el APKWS desde un M260, y se verificaron alcances entre los 1500 y 5500 mts con efectvidad del 85%.
siguiendo con la info sobre la disponibilidad del arma, transcribo articulo de la revista Janes de mayo de 2006:
BAE Systems and General Dynamics on
27 April reclaimed a contract to deliver a
guided version of the 2.75 in Hydra rocket
that the same pairing lost in 2005 due to
test failures and cost concerns.
The US Army cancelled the first Advanced Precision Kill
Weapon System (APKWS) contract in January 2005, citing
test failures blamed on the BAE Systems guidance package.
At the time, General Dynamics was the prime
contractor and BAE Systems served as a subcontractor.
The programme was reborn about 12 months ago as a
new competition for the USD1.4 billion APKWS II award.
The army attracted competing bids from BAE Systems,
Lockheed Martin and Raytheon. General Dynamics lost
its role as a prime contractor, but was picked to be the
warhead supplier for all three teams.
Lockheed Martin and Raytheon proposed nose-mounted
guidance systems, but the army decided to stay with
APKWS incumbent BAE Systems. The award reunites BAE
Systems with General Dynamics, but flips their roles as
prime contractor and subcontractor for APKWS II.
Ferrell said BAE Systems won the contract because it
continued to improve its unique mid-body guidance
approach even after the original programme was
cancelled. Rather than installing the sensors in the nose of
the warhead, BAE Systems embeds semi-active lasers
onto four mid-body fins that unfold after the rocket is
launched. The sensor inputs are fused together in the guidance
system, recalibrating the rocket’s path to the target
using several tracks. This design also incorporates the
advantage of leaving the Hydra rocket’s existing fuzewarhead
chain intact.
Problems with the same basic technology, however,
caused the demise of the original programme, according
to the Government Accountability Office (GAO). InaMarch
2006 report, the GAO concluded that, “integration of the
laser on the fins rather than in the head of the missile
proved to bemore problematic than originally estimated.
The configuration difficulty presented problems
that the contractor could not
overcome and keep the missile within cost
and on schedule”.
However, BAE Systems developed several modifications
to the guidance software after the cancellation that led to a
series of successful flight tests in the fourth quarter of
2005, Ferrell said. “We found out there was some calibration
things we had to do a little bit different,” Ferrell said.
The army is buying the guided rockets to have a smaller,
but equally accurate, alternative to the 49 kg Lockheed
Martin AGM-114 Hellfire missile. Cost is a major concern
for the programme, with a full-rate production price target
of USD10,000 per rocket. According to the GAO, the army
intends to buy 71,565 guided rockets under the APKWS
programme.
Stephen Trimble JDW Americas Bureau Chief,
Washington, DC
Saludos
El nuevo APKWS II Advanced Precision Kill Weapon System (APKWS), es un derivado directo del cohete para helos, denominado hydra con un nuevo sistema en el cual se le adisiona una cabeza de guiado, para convertirlo en un misil de bajo costo, el mismo es de laser semi-activo, capaz de golpear blancos estaticos y en movimiento con alta presicion, el mismo consta del tradicional 70mm sin guia llamado hydra con el sistema BAE System's distributed Aperture Semi-Active Laser Seeker (DASALS).Las pruebas consistieron en lanzar el APKWS desde un M260, y se verificaron alcances entre los 1500 y 5500 mts con efectvidad del 85%.
siguiendo con la info sobre la disponibilidad del arma, transcribo articulo de la revista Janes de mayo de 2006:
BAE Systems and General Dynamics on
27 April reclaimed a contract to deliver a
guided version of the 2.75 in Hydra rocket
that the same pairing lost in 2005 due to
test failures and cost concerns.
The US Army cancelled the first Advanced Precision Kill
Weapon System (APKWS) contract in January 2005, citing
test failures blamed on the BAE Systems guidance package.
At the time, General Dynamics was the prime
contractor and BAE Systems served as a subcontractor.
The programme was reborn about 12 months ago as a
new competition for the USD1.4 billion APKWS II award.
The army attracted competing bids from BAE Systems,
Lockheed Martin and Raytheon. General Dynamics lost
its role as a prime contractor, but was picked to be the
warhead supplier for all three teams.
Lockheed Martin and Raytheon proposed nose-mounted
guidance systems, but the army decided to stay with
APKWS incumbent BAE Systems. The award reunites BAE
Systems with General Dynamics, but flips their roles as
prime contractor and subcontractor for APKWS II.
Ferrell said BAE Systems won the contract because it
continued to improve its unique mid-body guidance
approach even after the original programme was
cancelled. Rather than installing the sensors in the nose of
the warhead, BAE Systems embeds semi-active lasers
onto four mid-body fins that unfold after the rocket is
launched. The sensor inputs are fused together in the guidance
system, recalibrating the rocket’s path to the target
using several tracks. This design also incorporates the
advantage of leaving the Hydra rocket’s existing fuzewarhead
chain intact.
Problems with the same basic technology, however,
caused the demise of the original programme, according
to the Government Accountability Office (GAO). InaMarch
2006 report, the GAO concluded that, “integration of the
laser on the fins rather than in the head of the missile
proved to bemore problematic than originally estimated.
The configuration difficulty presented problems
that the contractor could not
overcome and keep the missile within cost
and on schedule”.
However, BAE Systems developed several modifications
to the guidance software after the cancellation that led to a
series of successful flight tests in the fourth quarter of
2005, Ferrell said. “We found out there was some calibration
things we had to do a little bit different,” Ferrell said.
The army is buying the guided rockets to have a smaller,
but equally accurate, alternative to the 49 kg Lockheed
Martin AGM-114 Hellfire missile. Cost is a major concern
for the programme, with a full-rate production price target
of USD10,000 per rocket. According to the GAO, the army
intends to buy 71,565 guided rockets under the APKWS
programme.
Stephen Trimble JDW Americas Bureau Chief,
Washington, DC
Saludos
