The New Seekers

WEAPON SYSTEMS
Recent conflicts have identified a need for a lightweight, affordable precision
weapon that can easily be integrated with in-service rotary-wing platforms.
Grant Turnbull explores the world of guided rockets.
seekers
The new
U
nguided air-launched weapons have
become a rarity in recent years, with many
‘dumb bombs’ being retrofitted with guidance
kits to become smart munitions.
Probably the most notable example of this for
fixed-wing platforms takes the form of guidance
kits for Mk 80 series general-purpose bombs,
turning them into either a laser-guided Paveway
or INS/GPS-guided Joint Direct Attack Munition.
For rotary-wing platforms, a similar
transformation is taking place to the commonly
used, but unguided, 70mm (2.75in) Hydra
rocket. With the addition of a semi-active laser
seeker, these rockets are becoming a precision
tool that can accurately hit a target within one
metre of a laser spot. Compare this with the
unguided Hydra, which can sometimes impact
50m away from its aiming point.
The USN and USMC are currently fielding a
new laser guidance kit for the Hydra 70 known
as the Advanced Precision Kill Weapon System
(APKWS), manufactured by BAE Systems. This is
not a full weapon, rather a mid-body control and
guidance package that can be quickly inserted
between the Hydra’s Mk 66 rocket motor and
10lb (4.5kg) M151 HE warhead. According to the
manufacturer, the addition of the guidance kit
does not affect the missile’s existing 8km range.
‘The unique piece of APKWS is that it is a
mid-body design,’ said Dave Harrold, product line
director for APKWS at BAE Systems. ‘The kit that
we build is completely plug and play. If you
unscrew the warhead from the rocket motor
With the addition of a seeker head, rockets are
becoming precision tools for the battlefield.
(Photo: Lockheed Martin)
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WEAPON SYSTEMS
BAE Systems’ APKWS round has been fired from
around a dozen platforms, the latest being the
V-22 Osprey in November. (Photo: BAE Systems)
of a Hydra and then put our kit in the middle and
screw it back together, you’ve created an APKWS.’
A sensor known as the Distributed Aperture
Semi-Active Laser Seeker (DASALS) is the
‘underpinning technology’ for APKWS,
according to Harrold. DASALS, in contrast to the
nose-mounted seekers used on other guided
rockets or missiles, employs four distributed
seekers fitted to pop-out control fins. These
provide a 40° instantaneous field of regard for
precision engagements against moving and
stationary targets.
NAVAL TAKEOVER
BAE Systems’ design was chosen by the US Army
in 2006, although budgetary pressure saw the
USN take over the programme in 2008. By 2012,
the system had achieved initial operational
capability and was deployed to Afghanistan
on the USMC’s main attack helicopter, the Bell
AH-1W Super Cobra, and the service’s newest
utility helicopter, the UH-1Y Venom.
Comments from the field have been
positive since the weapon’s deployment,
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noted Capt Al Mousseau, programme manager
(PM) in the Direct and Time Sensitive Strike
Weapons Program Office (PMA-242) at Naval
Air Systems Command.
‘Our logistics community and my [integrated
product team] leads stay engaged with their
counterparts, both the aviators as well as the
maintainers, and, for the most part, there’s
been positive feedback,’ he said.
‘The value of an APKWS, the 2.75in-sized
weapon, is that you do have a smaller warhead
that allows you to minimise damage outside of
your intended impact area, and it is low-cost,’
Mousseau explained. ‘You’re only shooting one
precise weapon because you know it’s going to
hit the intended target, as opposed to shooting
maybe a battery of unguided rockets.’
APKWS is compatible with the Hydra’s M151
and M152 HE warheads, while combining it with
the M282 multi-purpose penetrator is currently
an unfunded USMC requirement. PMA-242
confirmed that it has no plans to integrate or
qualify APKWS with the Hydra’s 6.3kg M255A1/
M149 flechette warhead.
PMA-242 – part of the Program Executive
Office Unmanned Aviation and Strike Weapons
– currently supports the APKWS acquisition
process for the US military. On 29 December
2014, the office signed a fourth full-rate
production (FRP) contract with BAE Systems,
worth $45 million, which will see the company
deliver another 1,601 APKWS kits and complete
work by next year.
To date, the USN has taken delivery of around
3,000 kits and ordered more than 6,000 from the
manufacturer, with a value of approximately
$184.6 million.
The original US Army requirement for a guided
70mm rocket was to utilise existing Hydra 70
parts, including warheads, rocket motors, fuses
and launchers. This was to reduce costs associated
with areas like training and logistics, and also to
utilise the US military’s huge inventory of rockets –
more than four million 2.75in rounds have been
produced for the army’s Joint Attack Munition
Systems (JAMS) Project Office since 1996.
In addition to USMC platforms, APKWS is
already qualified to be fired from the USN’s 
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WEAPON SYSTEMS
MH-60S Seahawk helicopter. The latter aircraft
achieved early operational capability last year
and takes advantage of a 19-tube LAU-61G/A
rocket launcher, which was developed
as part of an urgent need requirement from
US Central Command to increase the MH-60’s
firepower. A key driver for integrating a ‘gamechanging’ guided rocket capability on USN
helicopters is the perceived growing threat
from swarming fast inshore attack craft (FIAC).
APKWS has now been successfully fired from
around a dozen rotary-wing, fixed-wing and
ground vehicle platforms including the OH-58
Kiowa, Bell 407GT, H-60 Black Hawk and the
unmanned MQ-8B Fire Scout.
In 2013, the weapon was also successfully
tested on the US Army’s AH-64D – eight shots
were fired at altitudes between 300 and 1,500ft
and up to 5km from the target – to obtain an
airworthiness qualification and allow Apache
customers to buy the guidance kit.
The main integration goals for this year, said
Mousseau, will be to qualify the system on the
USN’s MH-60R and the USMC’s upgraded AH-1Z
Viper attack helicopter.
The latest platform to fire APKWS is the BellBoeing V-22 Osprey, which was trialled with the
guided rocket last November during industry
tests at the US Army’s Yuma Proving Ground in
Arizona. These tests were funded by Bell and
Boeing to demonstrate the potential of guided
munitions for Osprey users such as Air Force
Special Operations Command. Two Raytheon
AGM-176 Griffin missiles were also fired from
the V-22 during the demonstrations.
Asked why the APKWS and Griffin laserguided munitions were selected, Bell Helicopter
explained it had received a positive response
from BAE Systems and Raytheon when the
company canvassed industry. ‘It really wasn’t
munition-specific,’ said Vince Tobin, VP and
programme manager for the V-22 at Bell. ‘It
was just what was available.’
CLOSING UP
In terms of capabilities, precision-guided rockets
are designed to fill a gap between bigger, more
expensive, anti-tank weapons such as Lockheed
Martin’s Hellfire missile, and unguided rockets
used for area suppression missions.
‘If you look at the gap between those two
weapons, there’s a big opportunity to have a
smaller, much more precise, low-collateraldamage weapon system, and really that was
what APKWS was born out of,’ explained
BAE’s Harrold.
The most lucrative prize for BAE Systems
will be an order from the US Army, the service
which originally drove requirements for a guided
rocket capability. Harrold told Defence Helicopter
that the company had been working ‘very
aggressively’ with the army, both on Apache
airworthiness tests and developing tactics,
techniques and procedures for the use of
APKWS on the platform.
An order from the service could dwarf the
existing uptake by the USN. At the time of
the original contract, it was thought the army
would buy up to 73,000 guided rocket kits,
while the navy would only buy around 8,000.
‘If you look at the roadmap for the army,
particularly PM JAMS, when they call out their
small guided munitions or guided rocket,
APKWS is specifically called out as their first
phase for that,’ said Harrold, noting that APKWS
is the only guided rocket programme of record
Raytheon’s Talon
guided rocket is currently
in full-rate production
as part of a $117 million
contract with the UAE.
(Photo: Raytheon)
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in the US DoD currently. ‘It makes sense that the
US Army would bring this into their inventories
since it’s already qualified in the US DoD.’
Despite BAE’s confidence that APKWS
will eventually be chosen, it could still face
competition from a number of other
manufacturers in this niche market. These
include Raytheon, with its Talon guided rocket,
and Lockheed Martin, with a ‘mini-Hellfire’
system known as the Direct Attack Guided
Rocket (DAGR).
‘The US Army has not made a selection for its
helicopter fleet and is looking at various options
for a small guided munition programme,’ a
Raytheon spokesperson told DH. ‘We continue
to talk with the US Army to understand their
requirements so that we may offer the right
solution should they decide to move forward
with procurement.’
Raytheon began development efforts
for a 70mm laser-guided rocket in 1999 and
participated in the original US Army Low Cost
Precision Kill/APKWS and APKWS II competitions.
The evolved digital semi-active laser (DSAL)
seeker technology resulting from those efforts
was brought into the Talon programme, which
began in 2008 with a cooperative development
contract between Raytheon and Emirates
Advanced Investments Group.
NO MODS REQUIRED
Like APKWS, Talon does not require
modifications to hardware or software and
can be fired from any aircraft that currently uses
the standard Hydra 70. It can also be used with
airborne and ground-based laser designators.
Remote designation or ‘buddy lasing’ is
accomplished in the same manner as APKWS
and all other US laser-guided weapons.
In early 2014, Talon was granted an
airworthiness release (AWR) from the US Army
for both the AH-64D and E models. The current
AWR allows mission planners the flexibility to
fully load out launchers with Talon as well as
to mix it with a variety of other 70mm rockets,
Raytheon told DH. Talon has also been fired from
the OH-58D and MD 530G helicopters.
‘We intend to continue investing into Talon,
demonstrating our commitment to potential US
and international customers. Talon’s future looks
very bright at this time and we are planning to
offer significant improvements to the system in
the next several years,’ the company
spokesperson said.
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COST EFFECTIVE PRECISION.
COMBAT PROVEN SOLUTION.
artist illustration
Military commanders turn to BAE Systems when they need affordable and reliable
precision strike capability. Our APKWS™ 2.75in (70mm) laser guided rocket uses
proprietary DASALS™ technology to transform existing inventories of unguided
rockets into precision weapon systems. Achieving a better than 93% hit rate in
theater, and demonstrated on more than a dozen fixed and rotary wing platforms,
the APKWS rocket has proven to be the weapon of choice for precision strike.
www.baesystems.com/apkws
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WEAPON SYSTEMS
The Australian Army tested APKWS last November, firing a guided 70mm rocket from a Tiger
Armed Reconnaissance Helicopter. (Image: BAE Systems)
Lockheed’s DAGR system has also gained an
AWR aboard the AH-64D after live-fire flight tests
at Eglin AFB, Florida, last year. The missile scored
a ‘perfect 16 for 16’, impacting targets within
1m of the laser spot from ranges varying
between 1.5 and 5.1km, a Lockheed business
development manager told DH.
In terms of launchers, the 16.3kg DAGR differs
from APKWS and Talon in that it can be loaded
into a four-pack launcher and fitted onto existing
Hellfire rails such as the M299/M310. The rocket,
which has been entirely funded by Lockheed,
has already been fired from the AH-64D, AH-6
Mission Enhanced Little Bird, AH-6i, OH-58 and
H-60 platforms.
In addition to the conventional lock-on after
launch (LOAL) feature used by APKWS and
other guided rocket systems, DAGR offers a
lock-on before launch (LOBL) capability. With
LOBL, the pilot can confirm that the rocket has
locked onto the intended target before
deploying it, minimising the likelihood of
collateral damage.
‘Perhaps the most user-friendly benefit of
DAGR is its commonality with Hellfire’s interface,’
said the Lockheed spokesperson. ‘DAGR
interacts with Hellfire-equipped platforms.
A pilot already knowledgeable in Hellfire
employment will require no additional training
to employ DAGR.’
The company said it was unable to discuss
specific customers or pursuits, but was eager
to extend DAGR capability to a wide variety of
DoD and allied platform operators.
As Raytheon’s deal in the UAE shows, there
is global interest in guided 70mm rockets. In
September 2014, the company announced that
full-rate production of Talon had begun as part
of a $117 million contract with the UAE armed
forces. When asked, Raytheon would not
18
disclose how many Talon rockets had been sold
to this customer, citing contractual obligations.
Raytheon’s Emirati deal could spark more
orders from Asia and the Middle East for Talon.
The company said it is currently in discussions
with three specific customers that may procure
the weapon system this year.
EXPORT INTEREST
Australia has also shown a keen interest in a
guided rocket capability for its Tiger Armed
Reconnaissance Helicopter (ARH). Last
November, APKWS was integrated for the
first time with a non-Hydra rocket motor and
warhead as part of trials with the Australian
Army. A Tiger ARH fired a Forges de Zeebrugge
(FZ) 70mm rocket with the guidance kit
attached. Maj David Paterson, commander of
the Rotary Wing Flight within the army’s Aircraft
Stores Compatibility Engineering Squadron,
called the test a ‘significant achievement’.
Australia may even follow the USN’s lead and
field APKWS on its new fleet of MH-60Rs that are
being procured as part of an FMS arrangement.
‘Until the Australian evaluation, we limited our
view to countries that were using Hydra rockets
– clearly that’s different now,’ said BAE’s Harrold.
‘A pilot knowledgeable in
Hellfire employment will
require no additional training
to employ DAGR.’
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‘We’ve had tremendous interest internationally
and a number of formal requests from countries.’
Last May, Jordan became the first export
customer for APKWS when it was announced
it would acquire the system under an FMS
agreement worth $5.5 million. The rockets will
be integrated on the Royal Jordanian Air Force’s
AC-235 light gunship, which can carry rocket
pods on pylons fitted to the undercarriage
sponsons. The government of Iraq has also
requested the sale of up to 2,000 APKWS and
associated equipment, as part of a $97 million
FMS agreement.
BAE Systems, Raytheon and Lockheed
Martin are not the only manufacturers that
have unveiled guided 70mm rocket systems.
ATK, in cooperation with Israel’s Elbit Systems,
has developed the Guided Advanced Tactical
Rocket (GATR), which incorporates the same
semi-active laser seeker as used in the JDAM. In
2013, ATK won a $3.2 million contract from US
Special Operations Command to provide GATR
rockets and launchers for operational evaluation
on MH-60L/M rotary-wing platforms.
Turkish manufacturer Roketsan has also
entered the mix with its 70mm Cirit guided
rocket, which will be fitted to the Turkish Army’s
T129 ATAK helicopter. The 15kg Cirit has a
maximum range of 8km and is intended to be a
complete system, not a guidance kit, Roketsan
has said. Cirit will utilise a multi-purpose warhead
(armour piercing, anti-personnel and incendiary)
as well as an HE option.
MISSILES VS ROCKETS
As outlined above, a key selling point for many
manufacturers is the ability to fire guided
munitions using existing 70mm rocket
infrastructure, such as pods and interface
electronics, found on most attack helicopters.
APKWS, Talon, DAGR and other similar systems
require virtually no modifications to the
platform, which is hugely important when it
comes to areas such as integration cost.
It is for this reason that guided 70mm rounds
will be mostly fired from attack helicopters,
explained David Beatty, VP of advanced weapon
systems at Thales UK: ‘Everybody is taking the
initiative that if an attack helicopter has already
got rocket pods, and so on, on board, wouldn’t it
be sensible to put a guided rocket version onto
the same type of platform?’
Beatty admitted there is ‘a little bit of conflict
and overlap’ between guided rockets and
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WEAPON SYSTEMS
Thales’ own Lightweight Multirole Missile (LMM),
a 13kg system which has been selected to equip
the UK’s AW159 Wildcat naval helicopters.
In July 2014, the UK MoD awarded
Thales a £48 million ($72 million) contract for
demonstration and manufacture of the
Future Anti Surface Guided Weapon (Light)
(FASGW(L)) – the UK programme that LMM was
originally developed for.
Unlike most guided rockets that use a semiactive laser seeker, the LMM, which has a range
of up to 8km, will use a ‘beam-riding’ guidance
system. Thales says it is accurate to within 0.25m
of a target designation spot and is also more
reliable in the naval domain. Stored in two
five-pod launchers on either side of the aircraft,
LMM is designed to target numerous small
threats such as FIAC.
‘LMM is a missile, it is structurally designed to
take on a broader range of targets than a rocket,’
explained Beatty. ‘[A guided rocket] has a very
flexible mechanical structure and aerodynamic
structure, [but] that rocket was never designed
to take on a very demanding, moving target set.’
One key advantage of the LMM is its ability to
shoot rapidly manoeuvring targets that a rocket
will have ‘severe limitations’ against, according
to Beatty. Another key feature of the LMM is its
ability to take on aerial opposition such as other
helicopters or UAVs, something guided rockets
cannot do.
Thales said it would like to see the LMM on the
Apache or other Wildcat-type aircraft such as the
Airbus Helicopters AS565 Panther, although with
the former platform, Beatty admitted it would be
difficult to persuade customers not to go with
the guided rocket option.
‘You do have to take the cost of ownership
and integration into consideration,’ he
acknowledged, noting that he had spoken to
several attack helicopter operators. ‘Have
they already had the integration of rockets on
their attack helicopter? That helps, that’s a big
advantage for the guided rocket. Whereas we
would have to put that integration into the
helicopter, so that’s a downside.’
illumination. General Dynamics, as system
integrator for Hydra, recently won a new $57.9
million contract with the US Army to supply
rockets and associated equipment.
The USN’s Mousseau said that as the
procurement of guided rockets continues,
there will eventually be a discussion on what the
guided/unguided ratio will be, although that is
still in its early stages. ‘Unguided rockets provide
another low-cost opportunity for aircrew to
provide suppression and rapidity of fire, so there
THE PRIMARY LOAD OUT TOW BRIDLE FOR:
SPECIAL OPERATIONS
US ARMY
US AIR FORCE
DUMBING DOWN
Despite all the interest in guided rockets, their
‘dumb’ unguided brethren still have a place
within modern military arsenals. The US DoD,
for instance, continues to buy the Hydra 70 in
significant numbers for missions such as air-toground suppression, smoke-screening and
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is still value, significant value, in having a mix of
guided and unguided rockets,’ he concluded.
Guided rocket evolution is still in its early
stages, so it is unclear what system will
eventually prove to be most popular. BAE
Systems has certainly got the attention of the
biggest military customer in the world, but time
will tell whether the US Army and other nations’
armed forces are willing to invest more in this
technology or stick with the tried-and-tested
70mm rocket. DH
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