Destroying enemy vehicles would be a lot easier if the little SOB’s would just sit still and take what’s coming to them — what’s coming being a 2.5-inch Hydra-70 rocket. But of course they don’t, so the Navy’s upgrading its existing stock of rockets with Low-Cost Imaging Terminal Seeker technology. Let’s see them run now.
LCITS uses infrared homing — a passive guidance system that exploits the target’s heat signature to track and lock-on — heat seekers, simply. Specifically, they measure the target’s electromagnetic radiation in the infrared spectrum that is radiated by warm bodies. It’s an extremely efficient tracking technology — 90 per cent of all US air combat losses have come from heat seekers over the past 25 years — and, unlike laser-guided weapons, which need the operator maintain a visual on the target until the projectile hits, LCITS is a “fire-and-forget” technology. According to Ken Heeke, the ONR program officer for the program, “No longer do you have to continue to monitor the target after you’ve fired the weapon. You can move on to the next threat with the assurance that the rocket will hit the target.”
The new sensor package has been installed in the head of the Hydar-70, a rocket originally developed by the Navy in the 1940′s. It was based on the 2.75 inch Mk 40 motor-based folding fin aerial rocket but has a longer propellant grain and a significantly higher amount thrust at 1335 lbs. The ordnance saw extensive use in both Vietnam and Korea is now standard issue on the OH-58D(R) Kiowa Warrior, AH-64D Apache Longbow and the USMC’s AH-1 Cobra.
In a recent test of the newly upgraded technology, a shore-based launcher to fire two LCITS at a group of five small manoeuvring boats. The rockets used internal guidance to navigate within range before the heat-seeking took over. At that point the on-board infrared imaging system correctly identified the two intended targets and intercepted them, despite the boats’ efforts to avoid.
DarthDVD
Friday, December 9, 2011 at 3:30 PMUmmm…
It’s an extremely efficient tracking technology — 90 per cent of all US air combat *losses* have come from heat seekers over the past 25 years.
Is that ment to be losses or “Kill’s on Enemy forces/Targets”.
dox
Friday, December 9, 2011 at 4:16 PMit would have to be losses, the US fires at friendly targets more often than enemy forces ;)
RB
Friday, December 9, 2011 at 4:24 PMincomming nerf in 3…2…1…
Wana
Friday, December 9, 2011 at 4:35 PMSo boats are going to be fitted with flares now?
Ozoneocean
Friday, December 9, 2011 at 4:54 PMI doubt these are for use against warships, the warheads are too small, the range is far too short. I’d imagine it was for use against smaller craft, targets on the coast, maybe merchant shipping…?
Drew
Friday, December 9, 2011 at 5:26 PMI’m pretty sure they are air to air weapons.
Ozoneocean
Friday, December 9, 2011 at 11:00 PMExcept the story is about a boats being used as the targets. The only scenario where they could be air to air is if they were hunting other helicopters, which would be to rare to even consider.
Wana
Friday, December 9, 2011 at 4:36 PMActually, how is this any different to before? Ships are already fitted with chaff to confuse infrared trackers.
Ozoneocean
Friday, December 9, 2011 at 4:49 PMChaff is used to confuse radar, not infra red.
Drew
Friday, December 9, 2011 at 5:26 PMAs above, I’m pretty sure they are for air to air combat not air to ground
Ozoneocean
Friday, December 9, 2011 at 4:47 PMThe significant thing here isn’t just that they have infra red tracking capability, it’s that they’re guided at all!
Normally these pods, as far as I know, are just filled with free flight, simple unguided rockets. They spin to get their stability and just fly straight at whatever the pod was aimed at at the time they were fired.
Adding guidance and manoeuvrability to these will increase the cost hugely, but also turn them into a completely different type of weapon. …from dumb rockets to entire pods of heat-seeking missiles.
Drew
Friday, December 9, 2011 at 5:25 PMDid you red the article?
Currently they are laser guided, down side being you have you keep the target in your sights until it is hit.
ozoneocean
Friday, December 9, 2011 at 6:04 PMI read it better than you obviously: It doesn’t say they are laser guided, it just says heat seeking is a better tech. This is a rep trying to sell the benefits of his guidance system, not a specialist in this particular rocket system.
Most likely with standard rockets you aim with a laser and then fire, not guide them all the way. They do that with larger, more expensive munitions like the hellfire missiles, not cheap little hydra rockets.