By B.C. Kessner
BAE Systems is sliding the timeline to the left for first deliveries of the company’s Advanced Precision Kill Weapon System (APKWS) to the Marine Corps.
“We are pulling out all the stops to get this system into theater as soon as possible next year,” George Adamakos, BAE business development manager for APKWS, told Defense Daily.
BAE signed a low-rate initial production (LRIP) contract with the Navy on July 30 for the low-cost guidance kit that transforms standard unguided rockets into smart, highly precise laser-guided missiles.
The Marine Corps will initially deploy APKWS from Bell Helicopter Textron [TXT] AH-1W Cobra helicopters.
Adamakos said BAE is preparing suppliers to aim for first LRIP deliveries in March. While the contract calls for deliveries beginning in May, the pressing need for the capability afforded by APKWS, expressed by the military, is causing BAE to spur things along, he added. “This system is critical to the warfighter.”
“Until now, those delivering close air support to ground units only had Hellfire, designed as an anti-tank weapon,” Adamakos said. “It makes a big boom…but now we have a weapon to field with a 10-pound warhead that’s low yield and low collateral damage and meets the trend that we’re in now,” he added.
APKWS is also a fraction of the cost of Hellfire, he said.
BAE has been the APKWS prime contractor since 2006, and designed the system’s laser guidance and control section. The company worked with Naval Air Systems Command PMA-242 on development of the system.
In 2007, the Army terminated its APKWS effort, and the program was transferred to the Navy. Funds were reprogrammed for the Marines to continue development, and the Navy has fully funded production, passing a Milestone C decision in March after a rigorous series of tests (Defense Daily, Feb. 16).
The final series of flight tests were held in January. They culminated in a perfect 8-for-8 score in a series designed and conducted by Marine test pilots, and demonstrated that the system’s accuracy exceeds government requirements.
“Two meters from the center [of the laser designation spot] was the requirement, and we’ve averaged 17 inches,” Adamakos said.
In both developmental testing and operational assessment, APKWS was fired off Cobras at targets ranging between about one to three miles.
APKWS brings three essential operational benefits to those in combat, Adamakos said. First, the BAE guidance section is designed to be compatible with current 2.75-inch rocket motors, warheads, and fuzes, enhancing the capability of the existing approximately 100,000-unit inventory of unguided rockets.
“Second, the low collateral damage gives pilots greater flexibility to engage the enemy,” he said.
Finally, the unit cost is on track to meet the Navy’s objective against lower value targets. “Unit cost is definitely dependent on production levels,” Adamakos said. “LRIP is now far less than projected when the Army was on-board, but as the production numbers increase, the cost will continue to come down,” he added.
LRIP 1 calls for 325 systems and LRIP 2 adds 600.
Because APKWS uses standard launchers, it requires no platform integration or aircraft modifications, and because it is loaded and fired like a standard 2.75-inch rocket, it requires little additional aviator or ordnance crew training.
“It is more like familiarization,” Adamakos said. “During the tests, the range briefings were longer than the briefings to the pilots on the system. It is about 18 inches longer and has some different handling and loading requirements…[but] when it comes to firing it’s basically a Hydra, with guidance.”
In addition to its planned use on rotary-wing platforms, the Navy has entered into a Joint Cooperative Technology Demonstration (JCTD) program with the Air Force to evaluate the suitability of APKWS for higher airspeed fixed-wing platforms, such as the AV-8B and the A-10. The JCTD is about a 27-30 month program, Adamakos said.
Full-rate production of the system is expected to follow from mid-to late 2012, and may entail the expansion of existing BAE production facilities, depending on demand.
“There is significant international interest in APKWS,” Adamakos said. The company has received a formal letter of request (LOR) and expects two other LORs from allied countries for foreign military sales by the end of the year, he added.