By Geoff Fein
Boeing [BA] has begun integrating new software into its Standoff Land Attack Missile Expanded Response (SLAM ER) that will enable the weapon to engage moving land targets, a company official said.
Upgrading the SLAM ER’s system software to include land based moving target capabilities was a Navy Rapid Technology Transition effort to fill a critical need by making SLAM ER an effective weapon for destroying or disabling high-value land-based moving targets, such as missile launchers and mobile radar, according to Boeing.
The software enables F/A-18 Hornet and Super Hornet aircraft to continuously receive updated target coordinates from appropriate command and control platforms, on-ship radar, or other third-party targeting sources, and then transfer these updates to the SLAM ER in flight.
Currently the upgrade will only occur for the United States Navy SLAM ER inventory, Jim Young, program manager for Harpoon and SLAM ER, told Defense Daily yesterday.
Whether or not the upgrade will be provided to international partners has yet to be determined, he said.
Boeing has built more than 500 of the day/night all-weather, over-the-horizon strike missiles for the U.S. Navy, Young said. Although he could not comment on how many SLAM ERs the Navy currently has in its inventory, he noted that the upgrade could be done in the field.
“We are loading the software into the missiles leaving the factory,” Young said. “And the missiles [that are] back here for recertification. The Navy is taking care of the ones that are deployed.”
With the new capability, SLAM ER can now be used against land and at sea moving targets as well as fixed targets, Young said.
The effort to develop the software for both land and at sea moving targets was similar, Bob Kuhlmann, SLAM ER technical integrator, told Defense Daily.
“In both cases [we’re] using third party targeting information sent back…by your control aircraft,” he said.
A four-part series of developmental and operational flight tests demonstrated the system’s network-centric ability to use third-party targeting. During its final test flight in January, SLAM ER scored a direct hit against a remote-controlled, land-based moving target. Previous test flights included an operational test launch, also in January, and engagement with remote-controlled mobile targets in 2006.
Kuhlmann said there were challenges in both the development and testing phase.
“You’ve got to be able to transfer the third party targeting data to the missile real time,” he said. “A lot of challenges were during testing. Just setting up the tests…to get all the assets in place to actually perform the test is very difficult. A lot of logistics involved…timing…to get things right.”