By B.C. Kessner
Raytheon [RTN] last week said its Surface Launched Advanced Medium Range Air-to-Air Missile (SLAMRAAM) successfully completed a second ballistic test vehicle firing, this time from a new Family of Medium Tactical Vehicle (FMTV) platform.
“Completion of this second test firing in such a short span of time demonstrates the maturity of the design and readiness to enter the next phase of critical tests,” Dave Gulla, vice president, National & Theater Security Programs for Raytheon Integrated Defense Systems, said in a statement.
The test was done in September at Eglin AFB, Fla., the same place Raytheon conducted the first ballistic test firing in August, a company spokesperson told sister publication Defense Daily last week.
The primary objective of the recent ballistic test vehicle firing was to collect environmental data to characterize missile launch effects on the FMTV platform, Raytheon said. These data provide input to engineering level assessments in support of system fielding requirements. Raytheon Missile Systems, developer and producer of the AMRAAM missile, successfully collected initial launch condition data, which will reduce risk on future potential FMTV missile integration efforts, such as the AIM-9X.
The Army has recommended that the Pentagon cancel acquisition plans for SLAMRAAM. Raytheon executives recently offered the Army a fixed-price proposal for integration of the AIM-9X Sidewinder onto SLAMRAAM to reduce the system’s price tag. The company is still waiting for a response from the Army, the spokesperson said.
The cost of an AIM-9X is about a quarter of the price of the AIM-120 AMRAAM, currently in use on SLAMRAAM. AIM-9X integration would enable the Army to buy a mix of both missiles for use against a range of threats at a lower total price, executives have said.
The Army’s most capable alternative system uses PAC-3 (Patriot Advanced Capability) missiles, which cost about $3.5 million per copy, as opposed to AMRAAMs that run in the “hundreds of thousands of dollars” range, Raytheon has said.
“SLAMRAAM is the most cost-effective system in development to combat the increasing cruise missile threat to our deployed forces, high-value fixed assets and population centers,” Gulla said.
In conjunction with the August test, the September ballistic test vehicle firings were completed to verify that all system components have been successfully transitioned onto the new platform.
The FMTV was chosen as the new platform for the SLAMRAAM system to provide improved crew and system survivability, particularly in light of lessons learned from Operation Iraqi Freedom.
Originally intended for integration onto Humvees, the Army decided last summer to move the system to the heavy, six-wheeled FMTVs.
LAMRAAM is designed as a tailorable, state-of-the-art air defense system that can defeat current and emerging cruise missile threats and a wide range of air breathing threats, the company said. Raytheon called it an “affordable adaptation” of the AMRAAM designed to meet emerging needs and provide warfighters with a system of mobile, networked battlefield elements geographically distributed to provide integrated fire control capability against airborne threats.
According to budget documents, the Army has spent $285.1 million for SLAMRAAM research and development and $70.7 million for procurement through Fiscal Year 2010.