Netfires LLC, a joint Raytheon [RTN]-Lockheed Martin [LMT] venture, yesterday said it completed the first moving target test flight of the Non Line-of-Sight Launch System (NLOS LS) Precision Attack Missile (PAM).
The NLOS-LS system, developed as part of the Army’s former Future Combat System, is among the first of the maturing systems that will be fielded in a Spin Out to the Early- Infantry Brigade Combat Teams starting in 2011. The Navy is examining the system for emplacement on its new Littoral Combat Ships.
The NLOS-LS PAM team completed the first moving target test flight for the missile. The system, sometimes called “rockets in a box,” consists of 15 missiles in a Container Launch Unit (CLU) that also holds the computer and communications systems. The system is easily transportable and can be launched remotely or from the same site.
During the test, the PAM missile, launched from the CLU, used the onboard, uncooled imaging infrared seeker to detect and track a moving T-72 tank traveling with other vehicles. The result was a direct hit at a range of nine kilometers–5.6 miles.
During the test, the PAM missile joined the network with its onboard radio, operated as a node on the net throughout the flight and sent back a terminal target image to the Advanced Field Artillery Data System.
“This network capability will provide the Brigade Combat Teams with unparalleled beyond line-of-sight target lethality, Anne Johnson, president of Netfires LLC and Lockheed Martin’s NLOS-LS program director, said.
The system takes targeting information from the command and control center and sends it to the NLOS-LS CLU computer and communications system for initial missile targeting. The missile also takes the command and control center’s targeting information for in-flight updates.
“NLOS-LS is designed to defeat both stationary and moving targets,” Scott Speet, executive vice president of NetFires LLC and Raytheon’s NLOS-LS program director, said. “Previous guided test flights have succeeded in direct hits against stationary targets. Today’s test proved this weapon will provide the warfighter with platform-independent, networked fires with immediate and responsive precision against moving targets.”