Raytheon's New "Small Tactical Missile"

[bobbymike]

From the Air Force Association

Raytheon Tests Small Munition: Raytheon says it has successfully tested in flight a new small-sized, precision-guided bomb specifically designed for carriage on remotely piloted aircraft. Raytheon's Cobra RPA testbed released two Small Tactical Munitions on two separate passes during tests at Yuma Proving Grounds, Ariz., according to a company release. The 13-pound bomb's Global Positioning System-inertial navigation system guided the weapons to a midcourse position where the STM's semi-active laser seeker guided them to their targets, "achieving all test objectives," stated the company. Bob Francois, Raytheon's vice president of advanced missiles and unmanned systems, said current combat operations "have highlighted the need" for a weapon like STM. At just about two-feet long, STM is the smallest bomb in Raytheon's weapons portfolio. It is capable of engaging both fixed and moving targets, day or night, in all weather conditions, the company said.

 

[bobbymike]

A Glimpse of the Future - Posted by Harry Schulte at 10/22/2010 7:11 PM CDT

Our customer is entering into an era of tightening defense budgets and an increasing need for smaller, more precise weapons. This paradigm challenges us to do more internal development to introduce programs that can rapidly integrate onto an array of pre-existing platforms. We proved our ability to succeed in this environment with the introduction of the Griffin™real-time attack system. We originally developed the Griffin missile with our own funding, using components from other proven systems, and it is now integrated aboard the AFSOC C-130W Dragon Spear.

Griffin is a small, lightweight and highly precise weapon that enables the warfighter to effectively engage soft targets that like to move in close proximity to innocent bystanders. Precision and low-collateral damage are only part of the story. Griffin enabled these customers to rapidly integrate a highly flexible weapon system onto previously existing platforms, giving them a powerful capability with greatly reduced integration and development costs. Griffin is more than a weapons program, it's a business model. We have a leadership role in this new paradigm that we helped to create, and we will see more of this activity in the future. It's happening now with our Small Tactical Munition. STM not only uses Griffin components, it's using a page from the Griffin playbook. We currently are flight testing the system using our own unmanned aircraft and we are making progress that's getting our customer's attention. Missiles like Griffin and STM turn the traditional approach to weapons procurement upside down...and I'm proud to say Raytheon is leading the charge.