PRECISION GUIDED MUNITIONS The New Breed
Assault Breaker
The Assault Breaker program was initiated by DARPA (US DoD Defence Advanced Research Projects Agency) in 1978, as a joint Army/USAF project with the task of integrating newer technologies in guidance, propulsion and radar to prove the applicability of such systems to the task of disrupting second echelon Warpac armoured forces. The weapon system developed in this process utilised an airborne sidelooking radar which could identify and track hostile armour from well over 100 km away, this tracking data was then used to target missiles launched from ground based launchers. The missiles would then enter enemy territory, under the control of a ground based command centre communicating via the airborne radar, position themselves over the targeted tank formation and dispense a large number of guided submunitions. Each munition would use its own guidance system to attack a particular tank. Though this system may initially appear to have weaknesses, such as datalinks which can be prone to jamming, it is actually very robust, which becomes apparent upon closer examination.
The Pave Mover program was the forerunner of today's widely used GMTI targeting radar programs, and was the technology demonstration for the E-8A JSTARS. This demonstrator radar was flown in the weapon bay of an F-111E during the early 1980s (U.S. Air Force photo).
Assault Breaker in action. A Martin Marietta T-16 missile dispenses its payload of twelve submunitions, either TGSMs or SDVAs, as it dives at supersonic speed on to a tank formation. The submunitions have been released in a specific pattern to ensure coverage of the whole target array, be it circular, linear or other.
Counter Air Missile. Terminal phase of a CAM strike, the delivery vehicle spins up and dispenses its payload of penetrators, each of which will find its way through a runway or taxiway surface. CAM uses a Pershing airframe, including the radar area correlator for terminal guidance. CAM is not yet funded and one major drawback to the system is that a wave of CAM configured Pershings approaching Warpac air bases could well be mistaken for nuclear armed Pershings with resulting horrendous consequences.
Assault Breaker
The Assault Breaker program was initiated by DARPA (US DoD Defence Advanced Research Projects Agency) in 1978, as a joint Army/USAF project with the task of integrating newer technologies in guidance, propulsion and radar to prove the applicability of such systems to the task of disrupting second echelon Warpac armoured forces. The weapon system developed in this process utilised an airborne sidelooking radar which could identify and track hostile armour from well over 100 km away, this tracking data was then used to target missiles launched from ground based launchers. The missiles would then enter enemy territory, under the control of a ground based command centre communicating via the airborne radar, position themselves over the targeted tank formation and dispense a large number of guided submunitions. Each munition would use its own guidance system to attack a particular tank. Though this system may initially appear to have weaknesses, such as datalinks which can be prone to jamming, it is actually very robust, which becomes apparent upon closer examination.
The Pave Mover program was the forerunner of today's widely used GMTI targeting radar programs, and was the technology demonstration for the E-8A JSTARS. This demonstrator radar was flown in the weapon bay of an F-111E during the early 1980s (U.S. Air Force photo).
Assault Breaker in action. A Martin Marietta T-16 missile dispenses its payload of twelve submunitions, either TGSMs or SDVAs, as it dives at supersonic speed on to a tank formation. The submunitions have been released in a specific pattern to ensure coverage of the whole target array, be it circular, linear or other.
Counter Air Missile. Terminal phase of a CAM strike, the delivery vehicle spins up and dispenses its payload of penetrators, each of which will find its way through a runway or taxiway surface. CAM uses a Pershing airframe, including the radar area correlator for terminal guidance. CAM is not yet funded and one major drawback to the system is that a wave of CAM configured Pershings approaching Warpac air bases could well be mistaken for nuclear armed Pershings with resulting horrendous consequences.
