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Aviation History
1988
1988 - 2806.PDF
WORLD MISSILE DIRECTORY. nine lOOkT Mirvs over a range of up to 8,300km. Five vessels are operational, and a class of at least ten seems likely. Operator Soviet Navy (5 Typhoon-class submarines, each with 20 launch tubes, one Golf V-class trials submarine with a single launch tube). SS-N-23 Skiff Similar in size to the SS-N-18, this liquid-propellant SLBM offers increased throw weight and higher accuracy. Probably developed as a backup to the solid-propellant SS-N-20, it matches that missile's 8,300km range and carries a payload of seven Mirvs. It serves aboard Delta IV- class.submarines, but according to the US DoD may be retrofitted to the Delta III fleet. Operator Soviet Navy (4 Delta IV-class submarines). Cruise Missiles FRANCE ~ Aerospatiale ASMP Deliveries of the original batch of reworked Mirage IV bombers intended for use as long-range ASMP (Air-Sol Moyenne Portee) carriers, and now redesignated Mirage IVP, ended in early 1988. One more is being modified to replace a IVP which crashed in December 1987. Most of the unmodified aircraft will be phased out, although some will be kept for training purposes. The next aircraft to deploy ASMP was the Mirage 2000N, the first squadron becoming operational mid-1988 at Luxeil air base. Aeronavale Super Etendards are also being modified to carry the weapon. Aerospatiale ASLP The 250km range of ASMP is sufficient for current requirements, but the proposed Air-Sol Longue Portee (ASLP) would have a range of 800km or even 1,000km. Based on ASMP technology, it would have a low RCS to help it penetrate hostile defences. Some dis cussions with the UK have been held on possible international collaboration, but this is unlikely to result in a joint programme. INTERNATIONAL Modular Stand-Off Weapon (Msow) This pro posed collaborative weapon has replaced the earlier Long-Range Stand-Off Missile (LRSOM) and Short-Range Stand-Off Missile (SRSOM) programmes. Seven nations were originally involved—USA, Canada, Germany, France, Italy, Spain, and the UK—but the withdrawal earlier this year of France and Canada could threaten the programme's future. Two versions could be developed: an initial variant with a range of around 50km, then a long-range missile able to fly up to 400km. Further development might result in a weapon able to engage mobile targets. UNITED KINGDOM NGAST 1236 This UK MoD Staff Target calls for the development of an air-launched missile for use against high-value fixed targets. Maximum range could be anything from 200km to 600km. This programme could be abandoned in favour of the international Msow weapon. UNITED STATES Boeing AGM-86B ALCM Production of ALCM ended in October 1986, when the 1,715th round I was handed over to the USAF. A total of 95 B-52Gs now carry twelve rounds of ALCM-B on six-round underwing launchers. Further rounds will be carried internally when the Common Strategic Rotary Launcher (CSRL), capable of carrying a further eight ALCM-B and SRAM defence-suppression missiles, is fitted to the aircraft weapons bay. Work is now under way on converting 95 B-52H bombers to carry the missile. When the Northrop B-2 enters service in the early 1990s, the Rockwell International B-1B will switch from the penetration role to that of cruise- missile carrier, and so could be fitted with the Boeing missile. General Dynamics BGM-109 Tomahawk Sea- Launched Cruise Missile This multirole cruise missile is deployed in three naval versions: the BGM-109 A Tactical Land Attack Missile- Nuclear (TLAM-N); BGM-109B Anti-ship Tomahawk (TASM); and BGM-109C Conven tional Land Attack Tomahawk (TLAM-C). The most recent version is the BGM-109D Sub- munition Land Attack Tomahawk (TLAM-D), due to enter service in September 1988. This uses the same guidance system as the -109C but carries a payload of submunitions. In mid-1987 a ship- launched Tomahawk missile fitted with a payload of 168 Aerojet combined effects bomblets flew an 800km land-attack mission, attacking multiple targets at the Naval Weapons Test Range at China Lake, California. The bomblets are normally used in the USAF's Combined Effects Munition System air-launched cluster bomb. Planned Tomahawk improvements due to be introduced on Block III missiles are the Mklll rocket motor, the -402 engine, the IIA version of the DSMAC terminal homing system, and the addition of GPS satellite navigation to Land- Attack models. Since the weapon is, in many cases, being installed as a retrofit, it is difficult to keep track of the numbers of vessels which have been retro fitted. The data which follows describes the current deployment plan, not all of which has been implemented to date. Armoured box launchers are planned for three Iowa-class battleships, one Long Beach (CGN-9), and two Virginia-class (CGN-38), as well as six Spruance-class (DDG-963) destroyers. From the fifth CGN-47 cruiser (Bunker Hill) onwards, Tomahawk is carried in the Mk41 vertical launcher, a multipurpose unit which may also be used for weapons such as Standard and Vertical- Launch Asroc. This will also be a standard fitting on the planned Burke-class (DDG-51) class destroyers. Plans to fit the missile to the two Virginia-class (CGN-38) cruisers were abandoned because of problems with top weight. Tomahawk can be launched in encapsulated form from standard USN torpedo tubes, and was initially deployed on Los Angeles-class (SSN-688) submarines in this manner. From SSN-719 Provi dence onwards, it is carried in vertical launch tubes located between the inner and outer hull. The first vessel to be declared operational with this installa tion was SSN-720 Pittsburgh, which entered service in November 1985. General Dynamics BGM-109G Ground- Launched Cruise Missile (GLCM) Under the INF treaty, the US will remove the GLCM from service. Production contracts for the weapon have been cancelled, and all assembled and deployed GLCM-unique hardware will be destroyed. Selected items common to other variants will be passed from the USAF to the USN for incorpora tion in naval versions of the missile. General Dynamics AGM-129 Advanced Cruise Missile Although deployment should be immi nent, the Advanced Cruise Missile (ACM) remains highly classified, and very little hard information is available. In practice, the programme has slipped a year behind schedule, with only a small number of rounds delivered to date, while flight-testing has highlighted problems. The Chairman of the House Armed Services Committee has described the programme as a "procurement disaster", citing quality-control problems. IOC is now expected in late 1990 or early 1991. ACM will be subsonic, and will have a greater range than ALCM-B, allowing B-52 and B-1B bombers to release the weapon from launch points further from Soviet defences, and to use missile flightpaths which circumnavigate Soviet defences. The missile will be powered by a new engine—the Williams International F112 turbofan. Use will be made of stealth technology to improve the weapon's ability to penetrate Soviet defences. At least 1,300 rounds are likely to be procured, bring SAC's total cruise missile force to around 3,000. In 1988 McDonnell Douglas was given a $16-8 million contract covering the work needed to qualify the company as a second-source producer of the ACM. SOVIET UNION AS-15 Kent Like the United States, the Soviet Union has developed a multipurpose air-breathing cruise missile—a Soviet equivalent of Tomahawk. This has a range of around 3,000km, and is avail able in three versions for land, sea, and air launch. Deployed in 1984, the air-launched AS-15 is carried by the new Bear-H, an ageing Tupolev design returned to production to form a fleet of cruise-missile carriers with low airframe lives for service through the 1990s. The new version of the Bear lacks the extended forward fuselage of the Tu-142 and carries four AS-15s on underwing pylons located inboard of the engines. The AS-15 may also be fitted to the Tupolev Blackjack when this large, variable-geometry bomber enters service in the late 1980s. SSC-4 Under the terms of the INF treaty, this land-based cruise missile will be phased out. SS-N-21 Deployment of the SS-N-21 cruise missile was announced in the autumn of 1984. It is fired from standard torpedo tubes on Soviet submarines. The missile probably entered service on the new Akula, Mike, and Sierra classes (one example of each is operational), then on Yankee- class SSBNs which have had their SS-N-6 missile tubes removed, their hulls stretched by an addi tional 32ft, and their sails lengthened. SS-NX-24 A further pattern of cruise missile is under development, and is expected to arm a new class of SSGN. Larger than the AS-15/SS-N- 21/SSC-4 design described above, it is around 12m long, 1 • 25m in diameter, and has a wingspan of 5-9m. According to the US DoD, it will be deployed in sea-based (SS-NX-24) and land-based (designation unknown) forms. The testbed for the SS-NX-24 is a single modified Yankee-class SSBN. Range has been variously estimated as l,800-3,600km. AS-X-19 This supersonic air-launched cruise missile is expected to arm the Tupolev Blackjack, supplementing the current AS-15. It could also equip a follow-on design of bomber. Originally reported as a development of the Tu-144 transport, it is now said to be a long-range supercruise design. 36 FLIGHT INTERNATIONAL, I October 1988
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