Missiles merge roles for mission flexibility

Missile developers in the U.S. are working on new weapons that combine the effects and capabilities of several previous munitions into single weapons, with the aim of significantly reducing the number of types held in the inventory and dramatically increasing the in-flight flexibility of aircraft and helicopters compared with current armament options.

The drive toward greater flexibility is already well under way. The dual-mode bomb such as the Enhanced Paveway, which combines GPS/INS guidance and infrared or laser terminal guidance, is already an accepted asset in combat operations. Companies have also been examining ways of using existing weapons in more roles.

Raytheon, for instance, has highlighted the capability of the AGM-88 HARM anti-radar weapon to be used against coordinate-based non-emitting targets, and has demonstrated the use of the AIM-9X infrared-guided air-to-air missile as a weapon against moving surface targets.

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