Air Launched Effects (ALE) and Long Range Precision Munition (LRPM)

The U.S. Army is looking for manufacturers to put forward potential Long Range Precision Munition (LRPM) candidates, to be integrated on Future Attack Reconnaissance Aircraft (FARA), for a “shoot-off” demonstration next year. The “shoot-off” is planned for the fourth quarter of fiscal year 2022. The Army wants the LRPM to be ready for FARA, first units of which will be fielded in 2028.

“A vendor’s munition solution must be a mature design, clearly allowing support to Future Attack Reconnaissance Aircraft integration and demonstration in FY2026,” the Army says.

Defense World

View News at Defense World
www.defenseworld.net www.defenseworld.net

The Tactical Aviation and Ground Munitions (TAGM) Project Office is seeking information (Request for Information (RFI)) on candidate Long Range Precision Munition (LRPM) solutions that can be demonstrated at an Army conducted Shoot-Off in 4QFY22. The events, timing and particular circumstances of this announcement are subject to change based on Army missions, funding and priorities. It is the Army's intent to conduct this demonstration to inform the LRPM capabilities development and to inform the selection of a single or multiple vendor/s to build, integrate, test, and/or qualify on Army aviation platforms. The Government requests interested participants to respond to this announcement, as described below, and submit a Technical Information Paper (TIP) that outlines the vendor’s chosen concept and capabilities, as well as demonstrates the vendor’s commitment to participate in a Shoot-Off/demonstration of capabilities in 4QFY22. Prior to the demonstration, the Government will conduct a design maturity assessment based on the TIP (see Section II-C below), digital simulation results, and Industry Day meeting(s) to determine current state and growth potential and whether the vendor’s concept will be ready to demonstrate capabilities at the Shoot-Off.
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SAM.gov

beta.sam.gov beta.sam.gov
 
Safer to be delivered by artillery or MRLS than helicopter. Basing helicopters near conflicts is becoming increasingly dangerous as asymmetric threats increase in number and ability.
 
MLRS and artillery are arguably more vulnerable to asymmetric effects than helicopters. Any idiot with a hand grenade or IED can disrupt an artillery battery, it's rather more difficult to interfere with something that whizzes past at 230 knots and nape of the earth.

And it's pointless to consider the capabilities of the Long Range Precision Munition without also considering the operational concepts that it will be used with by the FARA and FVL winners. The Army isn't proposing to simply warm over Hellfire and keep using the same old tactical concepts.
 
Helicopter basing usually require full airports for there helicopters to be transported from CONUS. C-17s were supposed land on unimproved airfield but they do not. O-CONUS based helicopters will be initially deployed from very well known bases. Those bases are asymetrical warfare targets.

Artillery/MLRS can rapidly leave the garrison and be difficult to target in complex terrain and cover. One must find the battery to tgt it. While air bases are quite easy to disrupt and FARPs quite easy to find with UAVs.

Trans-oceanic self deployment could provide a means of protection against these points of failure but until then helicopter have big vulnerabilites.

have argued on multiple threads and for a long time the need for combining Munition/UAV. JSEAD needs to start w/ artillery/MRLS.
 
You can't complain about helicopters needing a full airport when SP artillery and MLRs have exactly the same access needs. Every point you make about helicopters applies equally to artillery, but helicopter forces can be dispersed over a far larger area, particularly once FVL effectively doubles transit speed.
 
clearly this asks for a JAGM upgrade block~ how hard can it be to add a more powerful rocket motor and integrate it onto jets and ground platforms? ;) Alternatively perhaps we can get a deal with CM-501~

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on a more serious note, STOL would be sooooo much cheaper option for standoff attack, not like you need hover for this mission. Can the army get a proper STOL drone? A recon heli that rely on launching drones for the actual recon just rubs me the wrong way.
 
Are there any range requirements on this? I wonder if the tests involving Spike were aimed at filling this gap, or if they need something above and beyond.
 

The U.S. Army has released a new video giving the first look at a new weapon. “Long Range Effect” is a loitering munition, a drone which cruises for an extended period under operator control, locating targets with onboard sensors before diving down like a missile.

Missile diving on target

The fast-moving Long Range Effect dives down to knock out a dummy radar vehicle

The new weapon is part of a family of munitions known as Air Launched Effects (ALE) launched from helicopters or other Army assets. The video was taken at the Experimentation Demonstration Gateway Event 2021, commonly known as Edge 21, at Dugway Proving Ground in Utah in May. The video shows a variety of new technologies at work. There are clips of a light combat vehicle launching a smaller loitering munition, ALE-Small. This is based on the Altius-600 drone, a highly capable system with a range of over 250 miles, which is also being upgraded with advanced artificial intelligence.

If ALE-Small has a range of 250 miles, how far out can a system described as Long Range reach?

Journalists at the event were shown but not allowed to take pictures of video of the new weapon and few details were released. Brig. Gen. Walter Rugen, in charge of Army aviation modernization, told Defense News in a recent interview that: “We have payloads that we want that are a little bit bigger, and so we have a form factor that is a bigger form factor.”

The appearance in the new video is of the blink-and-you’ll-miss it type, just a handful of frames at the 48-second mark, plunging down and obliterating a dummy mobile radar system. Because the target is a mockup, there is no direct comparison for the munition’s size. The shape is distinctive though, with two large wings presenting a quite different profile to existing weapons. It appears to be considerably faster than the ALE-Small, which cruises at around 60 mph.

A previous exercise, Project Convergence, focused on the penetration phase of operations, using a large number of Air Launched Effects. Edge 21 looked at the next phase, known as exploitation, and involved forces carrying out a long-range air assault mission. It was based on an “Indo-Pacific scenario,” meaning a full-on conflict with China.

The choice of target is not a coincidence. Neutralizing air defense assets ahead of such an assault would be a key role for ALEs. The video also shows personnel on a helicopter wearing the Army’s new IVAS augmented-reality goggles, which combine night vision with navigation and external feeds. IVAS can give troops a view from a camera mounted on the helicopter’s nose — it can also show video from an ALE or be used to control the ALE directly.

One sequence of the video shows an augmented reality view of a landscape with extra details in a remote area filled in, presumably, by some type of ALE.

The Army’s MQ-1C Grey Eagle, their version of the Predator drone, will also carry ALEs. According to makers General Atomics, their drone will act as a mothership for a whole variety of ALEs with different capabilities.

This is not the only new loitering munition on the block. Edge 21 also featured an appearance by the ALE-Large, based on the L2 Harris Red Wolf. Last month the Marine Corps awarded a contract to uVision for its Hero-120 loitering munition, carried in an eight-cell, vehicle-mounted launcher with an anti-tank warhead. Also last month, the U.S. Army requested proposals for an Offensive Unmanned Aircraft Systems Swarm, a collection of loitering munitions which could be launched from a Hummer. (The Chinese have already released video of a 48-cell swarming munition launcher, although it is not clear how advanced development is).

These are in addition to the SwitchBlade munition, launched from a bazooka-like tube, which U.S. ground forces have been using against ‘high-value targets’ (i.e., leaders) in Iraq and Afghanistan for some years, and the new, larger SwitchBlade 600, which seems to be aimed at the ALE market.

Loitering munitions are on the cusp of becoming commonplace, so the decision to shroud Long Range Effect in such secrecy suggests it must be something special. But this fragment of video does not give many clues about why that is.

www.forbes.com

U.S. Army Give First Glimpse Of New Long-Range Weapon

The Army's new 'Long Range Effect' is a loitering munition, a drone which cruises for an extended period under operator control locating targets with onboard sensors before diving down like a missile with pinpoint accuracy.
www.forbes.com www.forbes.com
 

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@AN/AWW-14(V) , good stuff. The 250 nmi range for the Altius-600 is likely a "zero endurance" figure...so yes, it may be able to fly that far but it's not going to be observing much at that distance. The challenge is to fly far plus getting some time on station.
FWIW, Gen. Wally Rugen has been talking about ALE small flying out to "80-100 km". I think there's the added challenge of maintaining comms to consider.
 
Comms at 100Km... sporty.
 
There's been the usual talk of using one of the ALEs for comms relay. TBH i don't know how robust in real life such an arrangement would be. One intriguing possibility would be to leverage what DARPA is doing with Blackjack in the domain of resilient satellite networks. It may not have great bandwidth, but it's probably plenty for C2.
 
Collins_Aerospace_completes_Air_Launched_Effects_demonstration_for_U.S._Army_Future_Vertical_Lift_program-02.jpg


Collins Aerospace has successfully demonstrated a ready-now Mission Systems solution to support the operations of Air Launched Effects (ALE) from Army Aviation’s Enduring and Future Vertical Lift (FVL) fleet. Comprised of an air vehicle, multiple payloads, and a Mission System, these ALE are a crucial piece of the FVL aircraft’s ability to extend the organic reach, lethality, and survivability of manned platforms with Operator-on-the-Loop autonomy.

The RapidEdge Mission System demonstrated by Collins acts as the brain of the system and includes radios for communication, solutions for handling multiple levels of classified data, mission computing, and autonomous behaviors for ALE.

During the demonstration, Collins’ hardware located in a lab in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, was connected to hardware located at the company’s new Customer Experience Center in Huntsville, Alabama. The RapidEdge Mission System successfully executed tactically relevant ALE behaviors while communicating via a cross-domain multi-level security solution. The company’s Mission System enables multiple ALEs to act as a cooperative team with complementary capabilities while simultaneously reducing pilot workload. Additionally, the open system architecture allows multiple payloads and datalinks to be seamlessly integrated.

Collins Aerospace completes Air Launched Effects demonstration for U.S. Army Future Vertical Lift program

Collins Aerospace has successfully demonstrated a ready-now Mission Systems solution to support the operations of Air Launched Effects (ALE) from Army Aviation’s Enduring and Future Vertical Lift (FVL) fleet. Comprised of an air vehicle, multiple payloads, and a Mission System, these ALE are a...
airrecognition.com airrecognition.com

cross-domain multi-level counter anti-access area denial system :cool:
 
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www.ga-asi.com

GA-ASI's Eaglet Takes Its First Flight

General Atomics Aeronautical Systems, Inc. (GA-ASI) flew a new survivable Air-Launched Effect (ALE) for the first time as part of a flight demonstration based out of the Dugway Proving Grounds, Utah, on Dec. 8, 2022.
www.ga-asi.com
SAN DIEGO – 31 January 2023 – General Atomics Aeronautical Systems, Inc. (GA-ASI) flew a new survivable Air-Launched Effect (ALE) for the first time as part of a flight demonstration based out of the Dugway Proving Grounds, Utah, on Dec. 8, 2022. The ALE, known as Eaglet, was launched from a U.S. Army MQ-1C Gray Eagle Extended Range (GE-ER) Unmanned Aircraft System (UAS). The Eaglet flight was jointly funded by GA-ASI and the U.S. Army Combat Capabilities Development (DEVCOM) Army Research Laboratory (ARL) and Aviation & Missile Center (AvMC).

“The first flight of the Eaglet was an important milestone for the GA-ASI/U.S. Army team,” said GA-ASI President David R. Alexander. “Eaglet is intended to be a low-cost, survivable UAS with the versatility to be launched from a Gray Eagle, rotary-wing aircraft, or ground vehicles. It enables extended reach of sensors and increased lethality while providing survivability for manned aircraft.”
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Eaglet.jpg
 
shin_getter said:
clearly this asks for a JAGM upgrade block~ how hard can it be to add a more powerful rocket motor and integrate it onto jets and ground platforms? ;) Alternatively perhaps we can get a deal with CM-501~

------
on a more serious note, STOL would be sooooo much cheaper option for standoff attack, not like you need hover for this mission. Can the army get a proper STOL drone? A recon heli that rely on launching drones for the actual recon just rubs me the wrong way.
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The trick is to not get the USAF panties in a bunch over "missions"...

Though I do expect the Army to replace MQ1Cs with Mojaves eventually.


jsport said:
How does ALE survive a Russian tank APS?
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Top Attack.
 
ALE as currently conceived is a expensive one shot wonder and potentially not a common w/ the ground launched UAS. Numbers of attritable, but not disposable air/ground vehicle/dismount launched armed UAS w/ a deep magazine able to do its own BDA and repeat strikes all day are a better idea.
 
jsport said:
ALE as currently conceived is a expensive one shot wonder and potentially not a common w/ the ground launched UAS. Numbers of attritable, but not disposable air/ground vehicle/dismount launched armed UAS w/ a deep magazine able to do its own BDA and repeat strikes all day are a better idea.
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If you make it dismount launchable, that puts a hard limit on the size of the ALE (however much weight one soldier can carry). Gives you a max weight of about 50lbs/22kg. And that puts a hard limit on range/endurance.

I'd rather sacrifice the dismount launchable for a 100lb/44kg weight and better range.
 
Scott Kenny said:
If you make it dismount launchable, that puts a hard limit on the size of the ALE (however much weight one soldier can carry). Gives you a max weight of about 50lbs/22kg. And that puts a hard limit on range/endurance.

I'd rather sacrifice the dismount launchable for a 100lb/44kg weight and better range.
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And yes, this means that you need to decide on whether the ground vehicles have the dismount sized LRPM for commonality with the troops, or the ALE sized one for range/loiter time.
 
Modular common platform, especially 2-3-4 person portable would still allow max rng/loiter w, payload for return & restrike..
jam proof autonomy need be perfected An individual armed UAS would be a smaller part of a family which will not evolve w/o significant DoD risk or plan. Major LSIs will continue to throw garbage over the transume and gov capture it into adoption of more trash.
 
jsport said:
Modular common platform, especially 2-3-4 person portable would still allow max rng/loiter w, payload for return & restrike..
jam proof autonomy need be perfected An individual armed UAS would be a smaller part of a family which will not evolve w/o significant DoD risk or plan. Major LSIs will continue to throw garbage over the transume and gov capture it into adoption of more trash.
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Javelin versus TOW/Hellfire/JAGM.

Leg infantry packs Javelins, because that's the heaviest missile they can move. But vehicles still pack TOW, not Javelins, and aircraft have Hellfire and JAGM. I expect Hellfires to eventually get retired, so aircraft are packing JAGM and JAGM-weight ALEs.

IIRC, JAGM is also intended to replace TOW in vehicles, so if the launcher is common they can also pack JAGM-weight ALEs.
 
AeroFranz said:
Are there any range requirements on this? I wonder if the tests involving Spike were aimed at filling this gap, or if they need something above and beyond.
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Retroreply
www.lockheedmartin.com

How Spike NLOS is Advancing Army Modernization

To transform into a multi-domain force by 2035, the U.S. Army plans to modernize their future helicopter fleet with a Long Range Precision Munition (LRPM)
www.lockheedmartin.com www.lockheedmartin.com
 
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Scott Kenny said:
Javelin versus TOW/Hellfire/JAGM.

Leg infantry packs Javelins, because that's the heaviest missile they can move. But vehicles still pack TOW, not Javelins, and aircraft have Hellfire and JAGM. I expect Hellfires to eventually get retired, so aircraft are packing JAGM and JAGM-weight ALEs.

IIRC, JAGM is also intended to replace TOW in vehicles, so if the launcher is common they can also pack JAGM-weight ALEs.
Click to expand...
HEAT warhead effectiveness continues to evolve and can allow better than one shot wonders in the form of restrike UAS. continuous find fix finish & BDA all day.
 
AN/AWW-14(V) said:

The U.S. Army has released a new video giving the first look at a new weapon. “Long Range Effect” is a loitering munition, a drone which cruises for an extended period under operator control, locating targets with onboard sensors before diving down like a missile.

Missile diving on target


www.forbes.com

U.S. Army Give First Glimpse Of New Long-Range Weapon

The Army's new 'Long Range Effect' is a loitering munition, a drone which cruises for an extended period under operator control locating targets with onboard sensors before diving down like a missile with pinpoint accuracy.
www.forbes.com www.forbes.com
Click to expand...

From EDGE'21 promo. Some blurred unidentified green stuff hanging in pair with launch container for unidentified ALE stuff (that has own flying squirrel from hell logo). GE-ER was flying also with pylon taken by two ALE containers. My guess was Andurill stuff for later ones but I'm not sure.
 

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