Army asks Lockheed Martin to ramp-up Hellfire II air-to-ground smart missile production
July 1, 2015
By John Keller
Editor
REDSTONE ARSENAL, Ala., 1 July 2015. U.S. Army missile experts are asking Lockheed Martin Corp to ramp-up production of the AGM-114R Hellfire missile, which can be launched from manned and unmanned aircraft, surface ships, and military ground vehicles.
Officials of the Army Contracting Command at Redstone Arsenal, Ala., awarded a contract modification last week to the Lockheed Martin Missiles and Fire Control segment in Orlando, Fla., to increase Hellfire II missile production from 500 all-up rounds per month to 550 and 650 per month.
The contract covers non-recurring engineering tooling, test equipment, and labor necessary to ramp-up production of variants of the Hellfire II air-to-ground missile.
The AGM-114R is the latest Hellfire II variant, and is equipped with semi–active laser seekers to defeat many kinds of targets. The AGM-114R can be launched from several different kinds of fixed-wing aircraft and helicopters, surface ships, and military ground vehicles.
Hellfires also are the missile of choice for several kinds of unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) such as the MQ-1B Predator, MQ-9 Reaper, and MQ-1C Grey Eagle. Eventually these missiles may arm U.S. military unmanned helicopters.
The AGM-114R Hellfire II Romeo RX missile will use a semi-active laser guidance system and an integrated blast fragmentation sleeve warhead to engage targets that previously needed several Hellfire variants to destroy.
These missiles can seek out their targets autonomously or with designation from remote laser designators. The missile has a three–axis inertial measurement unit to enable it to attack targets from the side and behind.
The AGM-114R can be launched from higher altitudes than previous variants because of its enhanced guidance and navigation capabilities. With its multi–purpose warhead, the missile can destroy hard, soft, and enclosed targets.
Originally developed as an anti-tank missile for the Army's AH-64 Apache attack helicopter, the Hellfire missile has become one of the most versatile munitions in the U.S. arsenal. It can launch from fixed-wing aircraft and helicopters, UAVs, surface vessels, and land-based sites.
In the military embedded environment, design engineers looking to maximize advancements in commercial electronic processors face multiple SWaP (size, weight and power) limitations. Specifically, deployed systems need to be placed within small physical areas, be as light as possible, use limited power, and withstand harsh environments including heat, cold, sand and seawater.
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The AGM-114R will be guided by homing in on the reflected light of a laser designator. Other versions of the Hellfire are radar-guided fire-and-forget weapons. The Hellfire missile weighs 106 pounds, and has high-explosive variants designed to destroy tanks and other armored vehicles, and blast fragmentation versions designed to destroy trucks, antenna sites, concentrations of enemy troops, and other soft targets.
Development of the AGM-114R Hellfire missile became necessary after the Pentagon cancelled the Joint Common Missile (JCM) project, which was to replace Hellfire, as well as the AGM-65 Maverick air-to-ground missile.
On this contract modification Lockheed Martin will do the work in Orlando, Fla., and should be finished by November 2016. For more information contact Lockheed Martin Missiles and Fire Control online at
www.lockheedmartin.com/us/mfc, or the Army Contracting Command-Redstone at
www.acc.army.mil/contractingcenters/acc-rsa.
