AARGM / VFDR Missiles

sferrin said:
For some reason I was thinking it was on the coast. Well, not as far as I thought then.
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You're thinking of Pt Mugu which is on the water between Malibu and Oxnard. FWIW, when I was an AF O-3 I took a class at Port Hueneme but could only get the VOQ at Mugu, where they put me up in a Navy O-6 quarters. Needless to say, it was nice. Back on topic, 2505 stretches to over Death Valley and a lot of the targets are on the west side of the NTTR, so 100-150 miles sounds about right.

Then again, I got banned from conducting missions at China Lake because every mission I conducted up there something went wrong.
 
Scott Kenny said:
You're obviously bad luck at China Lake.
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LOL, I was.

My first mission up there was the WCMD integration final mission where we had all three munitions fail to operate as planned, turns out there was a software issue that had one of my mission directors been listened to would have been found before we wasted $300K of munitions. that was the only time I thought a debrief might degenerate to a fist fight...

Next up, I was conducting the first ever multi-SMO weapons drop where we dropped JDAM, WCMD and dumb iron in the same pass. Come to find out we dropped only 4 of the 5 planned JDAM's and discovered a software flaw that required the removal of that OFP off of every JDAM in the fleet within 24 hours. Final straw, we re-flew the mission last described and one of the avionics boxes broke and we only got 3 out of 5 JADM's. After three strikes I was bad luck and never did anything again with China Lake again.
 
www.defensenews.com

Air Force awards Lockheed $3.2B multiyear missile contract

The Pentagon aims to maximize industry's ability to produce vital weapons like the Joint Air-to-Surface Standoff Missile and Long Range Anti-Ship Missile.
www.defensenews.com www.defensenews.com

Also on Friday, the State Department approved a possible $405 million sale of up to 100 Advanced Anti-Radiation Guided Missiles-Extended Range and related equipment to Australia. Selling these missiles to Australia, a key ally in the Pacific, would help support the U.S.’s foreign policy and national security objectives, the State Department said.
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Forest Green said:
armyrecognition.com

US starts delivery of advanced AGM-88E missiles to Ukraine to boost precision strikes against Russian air defense

US starts delivery of advanced AGM-88E missiles to Ukraine to boost precision strikes against Russian air defense
armyrecognition.com armyrecognition.com
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That's good news and no doubt in part I suppose to the Ukrainians running low on stocks of donated AGM-88B/Cs, this will no doubt give the Russians a bigger headache especially now that the Ukrainians have F-16s in service.
 
NAVAIR has a news article out about it:

Like cars, rockets evolve: Navy’s ramjet test proves game-changing potential

NAVAL AIR WARFARE CENTER WEAPONS DIVISION, POINT MUGU, Calif.
--
Naval Air Warfare Center Weapons Division successfully air-launched a Solid Fuel Integral Rocket Ramjet (SFIRR) from an unmanned vehicle for the first time, one step toward modernizing missile technology.
The test also integrated the use of a fire control system on a BQM-34 unmanned target vehicle for live firing, demonstrating advancements in high-speed, long-range weapon capabilities. Launching the missile from an unmanned vehicle can allow warfighters to safely engage targets from greater distances.
As the Lead Prototype Integrator, NAWCWD combined advanced propulsion, avionics and fire control technologies into the technology demonstrator in just 12 months. Rapidly transitioning technologies from research to operational use is critical for maintaining a warfighting advantage.
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1000w_q95.jpg


Edit: I still find it pleasantly surprising that there are still operational Firebee drones.
 
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Submarine launched AARGM-ER internally developed by Northrop Grumman. Another program, externally funded, is using the same SACS capsule (originally from the early 2000s for UAS missions) for another missile type that will be delivered to a NATO ally.

Also in development is AARGM-XR.
 

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CJohnston said:
Submarine launched AARGM-ER internally developed by Northrop Grumman. Another program, externally funded, is using the same SACS capsule (originally from the early 2000s for UAS missions) for another missile type that will be delivered to a NATO ally.

Also in development is AARGM-XR.
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Interesting. I could see that being super useful as a direct attack weapon for targets that the submarine itself detected at relatively short range. AARGM-ER would be pretty highly supersonic for its whole flight at about one convection zone. Basically Klub/YJ-18 without the subsonic cruise stage.
 
CJohnston said:
Submarine launched AARGM-ER internally developed by Northrop Grumman. Another program, externally funded, is using the same SACS capsule (originally from the early 2000s for UAS missions) for another missile type that will be delivered to a NATO ally.

Also in development is AARGM-XR.
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The XR sounds like the VFDR missile.
 
CJohnston said:
Submarine launched AARGM-ER internally developed by Northrop Grumman.
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Hrm. I mean, Submarines do have a pretty sophisticated ESM suite installed, so if you can get that to talk to an AARGM-ER you could launch one out a torpedo tube. I'm guessing it's using the Harpoon booster?

I don't have a good feeling for just how far it'll fly, though. Yes, AARGM-ER has a 160nmi range advertised. But that's got to be assuming a standoff flight path. AARGM has an 80nmi standoff range, but only a 13nmi range when launched from low altitude. So I'm guessing that SubAARGM-ER only has a 25-30nmi range.

Waitaminnit.

Anti-radiation missile.

Tracks X-band fire-control radars.

You could use an AARGM to swat down an MPA!
 
Scott Kenny said:
Waitaminnit.

Anti-radiation missile.

Tracks X-band fire-control radars.

You could use an AARGM to swat down an MPA!
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OTOH an MPA's a bit more mobile than most SAMs and ships, and will get word of the launch via any sonobuoys it's laid, so could conceivably have the radar off before the capsule breaches the surface.

And it can continue to prosecute the sub with the radar off.
 
DWG said:
OTOH an MPA's a bit more mobile than most SAMs and ships, and will get word of the launch via any sonobuoys it's laid, so could conceivably have the radar off before the capsule breaches the surface.

And it can continue to prosecute the sub with the radar off.
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I dunno, you'd need to be really sharp on the "shut the radar off" button after a launch transient.

Plus the AARGM has an active radar seeker installed as well, though it is MMW/EHF so only has a few km range.

It's a little extreme, but it may be best used for skeet, I mean shooting at ASW Helos.

I guess I'm kinda struggling to come up with any other target set for a ~100km range supersonic missile with only 150lbs of boom onboard.
 
150lbs delivered to the forward superstructure is probably still a mission kill even for a major surface combatant. If aircraft were the targets they would have used an anti aircraft missile.
 
Scott Kenny said:
I dunno, you'd need to be really sharp on the "shut the radar off" button after a launch transient.

Plus the AARGM has an active radar seeker installed as well, though it is MMW/EHF so only has a few km range.

It's a little extreme, but it may be best used for skeet, I mean shooting at ASW Helos.

I guess I'm kinda struggling to come up with any other target set for a ~100km range supersonic missile with only 150lbs of boom onboard.
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Launch a salvo of Tomahawk MSTs on a dogleg course toward the enemy formation, then toss a couple of these with a time-on-target arrival. The defending area air defense ship has to decide whether to focus on surviving the AARGMs or taking out the Tomahawks.
 
AARGM-ER would probably have a flight time of under a minute if launched at a range of 20-25 mi/30-40km. That has value in and of itself; a successful hit will be disabling even if propulsion and hull integrity are not threatened.
 
Scott Kenny said:
I'm guessing it's using the Harpoon booster?
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I don't think so. The shape of the exhaust nozzle and fins are both very different from the Sub-Harpoon booster I've seen.

Interestingly, back when NG was first floating the concept of a ground-launched AARGM (AReS), they were talking about using some form of existing booster, either MK 72 (Standard) or Mk 135 (Tomahawk). But for this version, they appear to have gone for something bespoke, because it needs to fit inside a capsule that can fit inside a 21-inch torpedo tube.
 
Scott Kenny said:
These have at least double the warhead size.
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But a SAM has double the utility, and between SM-2/6 and ESSM, what role is this missile filling? It makes some sense for a submarine; it makes no sense for a Burke.

Though for USN boats there is also whatever Sea Dragon is, generally guessed to be a VLS SM-6.
 
CJohnston said:
Submarine launched AARGM-ER internally developed by Northrop Grumman. Another program, externally funded, is using the same SACS capsule (originally from the early 2000s for UAS missions) for another missile type that will be delivered to a NATO ally.

Also in development is AARGM-XR.
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I tried looking for more info on the SACS ( stealthy affordable capsule system), but apparently, not much info or pictures of it ....

Only have vague descriptions of what it looks like or supposed to do .....
 

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