By Ann Roosevelt
Watching current theaters of operation, Raytheon [RTN] has been looking into modifying the current Stinger missile by adding a proximity fuse to be able to take on the unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) threat, according to a company official.
“We’re very concerned about the emerging unmanned aerial vehicle threat, and in fact a lot of us here think that threat is here and now,” Michael Means, Stinger Business Development Manager at Raytheon, told Defense Daily in a recent interview.
The Mach 2 Stinger is fairly small, a 2.75-inch diameter missile that can be mounted on a Humvee as part of an Avenger system or other platform, and also is manportable.
Currently, the Army doesn’t have a near term, cost-effective capability to counter an emerging UAV threat to protect Brigade Combat Teams and high priority assets, he said. Raytheon’s goal is to work with its customer and develop the concept they are calling Warrior Shield.
The company also is working with Boeing [BA], which is investing its own money in a directed energy capability called Laser Avenger that integrates a laser on its Humvee-based Avenger system to destroy improvised explosive devices (IED), unexploded ordnance (UXO) and unmanned aerial vehicles (UAV). The system was successfully tested in 2007.
Just look at open source materials, Means said. UAVs have been used in the Israeli-Hezbollah war and Russia-Georgian conflict, though not yet against U.S. forces.
“I think that’s only a matter of time before our adaptive adversaries come to the realization that these tactical and mini-UAVs can be a real threat to U.S. forces,” he said.
By tactical UAVs, Means is discussing vehicles with a 13-foot to 25-foot wingspan, and a mini-UAV that is something that can be hand-launched with a wingspan of some six feet. Technology is moving UAVs toward the micro-stage with something like a 24-inch wingspan.
Potential adversaries can use UAVs with weapons or intelligence gathering payloads, each potentially dangerous to U.S. forces. The Army has acknowledged this threat, Means said.
Raytheon is taking a systems approach for its Warrior Shield concept, aiming to use existing force structure and command and control and at the same time not be too expensive, which would make it more likely to be implemented.
The concept examined the Army’s existing maneuver air defense elements for Warrior Shield that needs a sensor, launcher, missile and command and control. The Thales– Raytheon Sentinel radar could serve as the sensor, and the Avenger system–missiles mounted on a Humvee that can slew-to-cue a missile.
Raytheon is talking with Boeing about its multi-role tactical laser mounted on Avenger that can find, identify and “super-designate” the target and slew the launcher to the threat, Means said. The laser locks on so accurately the Stinger missile can find that target at a greater distance.
“On the missile side, as these threats get smaller and smaller, it gets harder and harder for a missile like Stinger, which has a contact fuse, to hit it,” Means said. “But, if we add a proximity fuse on it, we can nearly double the lethality of the missile…that’s what our studies are showing.”
The proximity fuse would be in addition to the contact fuse already in the missile, he said. Stinger was designed for the threat from fixed wing, rotor craft and cruise missiles, so ” absolutely” the contact fuse would be kept.
Stinger already has some capability against the smaller threat already, Means said, and actually hit a mini-UAV during tests at China Lake in the spring. “The reality is it would have significantly increased capability with the proximity fuse.”
Stinger manpads will continue to be in use, he said, and with the addition of a proximity fuse the missile becomes more lethal, but the range doesn’t change much. For those who can launch Stinger from a platform, the missile is more lethal over a longer distance because the target is found and designated at greater range.
The missile already in the Army inventory is the Stinger Reprogrammable Micro-Processor (RMP) Block 1. “What we’re saying by adding a prox fuse to that it’s a very cost effective way to enhance lethality without having to buy a new missile or even develop a new missile, ” he said.
The space-constrained missile, with a 2.75-inch diameter, would take some work. “What we’d like to do is develop and integrate a prox fuse and have a demonstration in about 12 to 13 months and follow that up with the typical safety board assessments that take a year or so after that,” Means said.
Once the product is developed it could be applied by a field kit or in the international arena.
“What we’re actually doing is taking the design of the AIM-9M missile, leveraging an existing design” and applying it to Stinger. Raytheon produces the AIM 9M.
Raytheon has been talking about Warrior Shield to Army offices, and there is a lot of interest. Now what’s needed is development money to prove the concept. Company officials plan to discuss the concept with members of Congress in the first part of next year.
“I’m convinced we’re going to see this threat,” Means said. Adding the capability would be low cost, limited force structure requirements, and would be a simple solution to help the war fighter.