AARGM / VFDR Missiles

[timmymagic]

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 .....

Did anyone get to the bottom of what European system/missile would be using SACS? MICA? IDAS?

 

[Ronny]

Sounds like MACE (aka Blackbeard) may be the functional replacement. The missile doesn't need a radar homing seeker if it is very fast and the launcher has really good target location data at launch, I guess.

Castelion's Blackbeard hypersonic missile selected for US Navy's MACE program - Defense Archives

The United States Navy has selected Blackbeard, a hypersonic missile developed by defense startup Castelion, for their Multi-mission Affordable Capacity Effector (MACE) program. On February 25, the US Navy announced that Castelion had been awarded a $49,998,005 firm-fixed-price order for...

defensearchives.com

Having an anti radar missile without radar homing seeker is kinda dumb I think

 

[Hull down]

Curiously the USAF posted an RFI for “another?” SiAW and the Navy had posted an RFI for the AESM (Advanced Emission suppression missile)

It seems AARGM-ER and its SiAW derivative are dead and the Navy / USAF are devaluating their approach.

 

[Ronny]

Sounds like MACE (aka Blackbeard) may be the functional replacement. The missile doesn't need a radar homing seeker if it is very fast and the launcher has really good target location data at launch, I guess.

Castelion's Blackbeard hypersonic missile selected for US Navy's MACE program - Defense Archives

The United States Navy has selected Blackbeard, a hypersonic missile developed by defense startup Castelion, for their Multi-mission Affordable Capacity Effector (MACE) program. On February 25, the US Navy announced that Castelion had been awarded a $49,998,005 firm-fixed-price order for...

defensearchives.com

Now that I read the requirement for Black beard, it seem too good to be true. It basically smaller than AARGM-ER yet can fly at hypersonic speed and reach longer distance. How do they even fit 4 inside F-35?

Blackbeard is stated to fall within current range category currently occupied by the AGM-158C Long Range Anti-Ship Missile (LRASM), with the stealthy air launched anti-ship having a stated range of greater than 200 nautical miles, (with a potential range of up to 500 nautical miles). Despite falling within the same range bracket, Blackbeard offers a fundamentally different capability at a much greater scale, with smaller warhead of 95lbs and a greater emphasis on striking time-sensitive targets.


U.S. Navy fixed winged fighters in the shape of the F/A-18E/F Super Hornet and F-35C Lightnings will be the primary launch platforms. In regards to the F-35C Lightnings, Blackbeard is small enough to enable carriage of 4 rounds the internal weapons bays, providing the stealth-fighter’s first hypersonic strike capability whilst keeping a reduced radar cross section

 

[Forest Green]

https://twitter.com/x/status/2046968269408481374

View: https://x.com/ColbyBadhwar/status/2046968269408481374?s=20

 

[Josh_TN]

Sounds like MACE (aka Blackbeard) may be the functional replacement. The missile doesn't need a radar homing seeker if it is very fast and the launcher has really good target location data at launch, I guess.

Castelion's Blackbeard hypersonic missile selected for US Navy's MACE program - Defense Archives

The United States Navy has selected Blackbeard, a hypersonic missile developed by defense startup Castelion, for their Multi-mission Affordable Capacity Effector (MACE) program. On February 25, the US Navy announced that Castelion had been awarded a $49,998,005 firm-fixed-price order for...

defensearchives.com

Weird, I thought MACE was subsonic and that HALO had been rescoped to include high supersonic vs hypersonic options, and that Blackbeard was an option for that program.

 

[Josh_TN]

Having an anti radar missile without radar homing seeker is kinda dumb I think

If the launching platform has precise position information, there is no need to hone in on emissions. Doubly so if your missile has a terminal seeker. The USAF already seemed to be going this route with SiAW, though somehow that seems to have gone wrong.