Electronic Weapons Article Index : Current 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012
 Latest
 News 		  Most
 Read 		  Most
 Commented		  Hot
 Topics

September 7, 2002

The Navy had been planning to replace its HARM anti-radar missiles with a new design called AARGM (Advanced Anti-Radiation Guided Missile) but has hit a roadblock. The primary contractor for AARGM is Science and Applied Technology, but that company is about to lose its legal ability to do business with the government due to an indictment for securities violations. The Navy is now asking other contractors for their proposals to improve HARM. As the primary defense against this missile is to turn the targeted radar off, the Navy wants a system able to continue toward the target even in such a case. The Air Force is taking a different approach to destroying enemy air defense radars. They want to use airborne sensors to precisely locate the radar, then send a rocket-boosted two-thousand-pound bomb to destroy it. An anti-radiation missile has only a few pounds of explosives, and must land fairly close to the radar to destroy it with shrapnel. The heavy bomb would not have to be so accurate. The Navy theory is that more precision will cause less collateral damage and possibly fewer civilian casualties.--Stephen V Cole