Cheap Cruise Missile Paired With Affordable Seeker From Ship-Killing Smart Bomb Eyed By USAF
The Quicksink seeker could turn the Extended Range Attack Munition into a new low-cost anti-ship weapon that could be bought quickly in large numbers.
Joseph Trevithick
Posted on Jan 22, 2025
Anew, relatively cheap precision-guided air-launched stand-off munition the U.S. Air Force is working on could be employed against ships with the help of seeker technology from the service’s Quicksink program. The Extended Range Attack Munition (ERAM), under development primarily for Ukraine, is otherwise shaping up to be a highly modular design, variants of which could be optimized for use against other target types.
The Stand-In Strike Division of the Air Force Life Cycle Management Center’s Armament Directorate, based at Eglin Air Force Base in Florida, provided new details about ERAM, including plans to leverage work done under Quicksink, in a recent contracting notice. Plans for ERAM first emerged in January 2024. In addition to Ukraine, NATO allies Denmark and the Netherlands are also known to be involved in the program.
The Air Force “is seeking support to procure ERAM hardware capability (GPS receivers, seekers, navigation units, radio solutions, datalink, or other capabilities to add operational capabilities to the weapon). The ERAM program is currently executing an Other Transaction Authority (OTA),” the contracting notice explains. “The OTA will conclude with a Phase 2 development option, a full rate production OTA, and potential future development for additional capabilities. This request will support these future opportunities for the USAF to procure ERAM baseline configuration.”
https://www.twz.com/air/cheap-cruise-missile-paired-with-affordable-seeker-from-ship-killing-smart-bomb-eyed-by-usaf