UK Requirements: SR(A) 1244

overscan said:
Contenders
  • Aerospatiale ASLP
  • Boeing SRAM-T (SRAM-2 derivative)
  • Martin Marietta/BAeD/Hunting TASM-UK
Source:

John Fricker "RAF Operational Requirements" Air International May 1993
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The ASLP was cancelled, but I simply can't remember how it differed from ASMP.

The second generation SRAM was cancelled as well.


......And I don't have a clue as to what the "Martin Marietta/BAeD/Hunting TASM-UK" was meant to be?
 
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Does anyone have any more information on the Aerospatiale ASLP?
Pictures seem to be hard to find. I only found one drawing of it in an Aerospatiale ad and i cant make much sense of it. I became interested after reading this mention of its air-intake configuration optimized for stealth:
Using a fuselage like this and placing the air intakes on the
leeward surface, we can get a vehicle that is discreet for on-
ground radar (ALCM, F117, B2). Of course, this location
contradicts the aerodynamic constraints. It can always be
said that, if the vehicle is very discreet, it will not be
detected and therefore will not have to manoeuvre.
Aerospatiale's ASLP concept is based on this principle with
an leeward surface air intake combined with a radar
detector. If acquisition is made anyway, the missile no
longer has to be discreet but its performance must be
increased. It turns over and the air intake is then on the
windward surface where it can be efficient
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Source
 

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I found some info and a better image in IDR Vol 24 Iss 8 1991
Aerospatiale unveiled a mock-up of one of the many ASLP (air-sol longue’ portée: long-range air-to- surface) missile designs it has studied in association with the Direction des engins (French missile directorate). This missile, currently at the pre-development stage, is mainly intended to replace the ASMP which has been in French service since 1986 as the airborne component of the French strategic nuclear force and could be adopted by the UK, depending on the result of current negotiations.
The ASLP could also be used as a long-range conventional cruise missile. Current plans envisage the ASLP equipping the ACT and ACM versions of the Rafale, each aircraft being capable of carrying one missile on the centreline hard point or one under each wing. The ASLP uses a ramjet plus solid-propellant motor which enables it to travel at speeds close to Mach 3.5 over distances of 1,000 to 1,500km. The missile is completely autonomous, with a terminal phase programmable to any threat defenses. The ASLP flies at very low altitude and is expected to be accurate to within a few metres, due to its ability to navigate to its target by autonomous course correction in free flight. The radar-absorbent configuration and materials are designed to give the ASLP the greatest possible stealth capability. The navigation and guidance systems must also be hardened against possible countermeasures. Its speed, manoeuvrability, low-altitude flight, stealth and resistance to countermeasures will enable the missile to penetrate even the densest defenses.
Another approach being considered is to develop a derivative of the ASLP capable of flying at very-high altitude to prevent it being detected by early-warning aircraft.
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Far and away the best writeup of the TASM project seems to be here:
https://www.york.ac.uk/media/politi...3 Ritchie & Walker Denuclearising the RAF.pdf

The principal options were:
  • Boeing's SRAM-T, lowest technical risk but felt to be lacking range (at 250km), accuracy and penetrability.
  • Martin Marietta's Tactical Integrated Rocket Ramjet Missile (TIRRM), a derivative of ASALM by way of SLAT, with 520 to 700km range and an estimated in-service date of 2001-2002. Considered high risk for cost and timescale, and would be a UK-only sysstem.
  • The 'French' ASLP-D2, with range estimated at 760 to 900km, but very high risk and a joint development programme was proving difficult to agree. In addition, the UK's preferred warhead wasn't compatible with the missile.
SRAM-T and ASLP-D2 would also require an 'offset launcher' for carriage on Tornado, introducing additional risk and potential performance degradation.

The cancellation of SRAM-T in 1991 introduced considerable uncertainty, as it was the preferred option on grounds of cost and technical risk. The incompatibility between the warhead and the ASLP-D2 missile made TIRRM the only remaining viable option.

With concerns about cost and difficulty rising, increased uncertainty about the need for a theatre nuclear weapon, and the Royal Navy withdrawing from the programme entirely, the project was cancelled in 1993.
 
From the Twitter account of historian (who's name I've now forgotten) back when Twitter allowed people without accounts to browse.

Not all relevant to this topic,but Future Theatre Nuclear Weapons would have had a PAL, Anti-Tamper System, and Command Disable.

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It's worth clarifying that 'Command Disable' is the ability to render a nuclear weapon incapable of producing a nuclear yield on the authority of a field commander. This is quicker and safer than the alternative of physically destroying the weapons, which would otherwise be required if control of the weapons were to be lost. AFAIK it was introduced in the US on the B61, which is a slightly more modern weapon than WE.177.

It does not imply an ability to disable weapons remotely by transmission of a command, which would pose obvious risks to nuclear surety.
 
Article from the Nuclear Information Service covering British lightweight nuclear warhead design.
 

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Yellow Palace said:
It's worth clarifying that 'Command Disable' is the ability to render a nuclear weapon incapable of producing a nuclear yield on the authority of a field commander. This is quicker and safer than the alternative of physically destroying the weapons, which would otherwise be required if control of the weapons were to be lost. AFAIK it was introduced in the US on the B61, which is a slightly more modern weapon than WE.177.

It does not imply an ability to disable weapons remotely by transmission of a command, which would pose obvious risks to nuclear surety.
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I was under the impression that the US version was integrated into the PAL. Enter an invalid code however many times and the thermal batteries fry the detonator circuits.
 

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