Hydra, Awakened: Guided Air-Ground Rockets
May 09, 2012 11:57 EDT
Sen. Leahy’s [D-VT] worked in the mid-2000s to keep the Hydra 70mm rocket family alive through special appropriations, just in time for the Hydras’ potential on the battlefield to rise again. The key was the addition of low-cost precision guidance, which would expand the number of precision weapons carried by helicopters, aircraft, and even UAVs.
Over the last few years, the US Army’s 2nd attempt at an APKWS 70mm guided rocket had a near-death experience, before righting the program with Navy funding. Meanwhile, private development efforts from Lockheed Martin, Thales TDA, and a raft of international partnerships involving major defense firms and partners in Korea, the UAE, Canada/Norway, and Israel are introducing new competitors into the precision-guided rocket space. This DID FOCUS article covers the most prominent competitors within the guided rocket trend. Their products will sit between full anti-armor missiles like Hellfire, TOW, and Brimstone, and an emerging class of ultra-small precision attack weapons like Northrop Grumman’s Viper Strike, Raytheon’s Griffin, etc.
- APKWS II: To be, or not to be…
- Lockheed Martin: Is this a DAGR I see before me…? [updated]
- LOGIR: ”...the heavenly-harnessed team/ Begins his golden progress in the east…”
- Raytheon and the UAE: “Our remedies oft in ourselves do lie…”
- Other Entries: “Come unto these yellow sands….” [updated]
- Additional Readings
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