ST. LOUIS, 26 Aug. 2009.Missile avionics experts at Boeing Integrated Defense Systems (BA) in St. Louis have given a software upgrade to the Standoff Land Attack Missile Expanded Response (SLAM ER) cruise missile electronics to enable the missile to attack and destroy important moving targets on land.
The U.S. Navy declared the missile system, with its upgraded targeting avionics software, operationally effective against moving targets on land. SLAM ER is a derivative of the Harpoon anti ship missile.
Upgrading the SLAM ER's system software to include moving land target capabilities was a Navy rapid technology transition effort to enable the SLAM ER to attack and destroy valuable moving targets on land, such as missile launchers and mobile radar.
The software enables F/A-18 Hornet and Super Hornet fighter-bomber aircraft to receive continuously updated target coordinates from command and control aircraft, on-ship radar, or other third-party targeting sources, and then transfer these updates to the SLAM ER in flight.
"Upgrading SLAM ER with the land-based moving target function adds a key capability to the warfighter's arsenal," says Steve Morrow, Boeing director of naval weapon programs. Flight tests demonstrated the system's network centric ability to use third-party targeting.
SLAM ER scored a direct hit in January against a remote-controlled, land-based moving target. SLAM ER is a day/night, all-weather, over-the-horizon precision strike missile capable of hitting stationary or moving targets on land or at sea and can be launched from standoff ranges of more than 150 nautical miles.
The Navy uses the missile for surgical strikes against important land targets, as well as against ships in port and at sea. The missile enables the pilot to update the target impact point during the missile's final moments of flight.
For more information contact Boeing online at www.boeing.com.
