U.S. Orders Thousands of Hellfire Missiles(NSI News Source Info) 26 August, 2008: The U.S. Army has purchased thousands of Hellfire II precision-strike, laser-guided missiles for helicopters, UAVs, and possibly, tripods and Humvees, service officials said.
A U.S. AH-1 Cobra fires a Hellfire II missile. (Lockheed Martin Missiles and Fire Control)
Signed Aug. 21, the $357 million deal is to begin delivery in 2010. It also includes options to buy more in 2009 and 2010; if exercised, these options would sustain Hellfire production into 2013 and put the total number of missiles purchased over 15,000, the U.S. Army's largest Hellfire purchase to date, said Lockheed Martin Air-to-Ground Missile System Program Manager Ken Musculus.
The purchase will also send missiles to France, Greece and the Netherlands via the Foreign Military Sales program.
The purchase will be France's first, bringing the total of Hellfire-customer nations to 16, U.S. Army Joint Attack Munitions Systems Program Manager Col. Mike Cavalier said. France will use the missile to arm its 40 HAD Tiger attack helicopters, scheduled to arrive in 2012.
The Army plans to use the missiles, which will include high-explosive anti-tank and blast-fragmentation variants, to arm UAVs.
"The Air Force has been putting them on the Predator and the Reaper. The Sky Warrior A [Army UAV] has been weaponized and fielded," Cavalier said.
The Army also plans to experiment with mounting the missile on other land-based platforms.
"Over the past four years, we have started to get aggressive with Hellfire," Musculus said. "All I can say is we do have several programs we are undertaking to put the Hellfire missiles on a BMP [Soviet-built infantry fighting vehicle], on tripods and on applications to put it on ships."
The Army's Future Combat Systems modernization program is exploring possible uses for the weapon.
"We have Future Combat Systems out here and we work with them on a daily basis," Cavalier said. "There are some initiatives that have come up."
Other allied nations may buy the missiles, Lockheed and Army officials said: the Spanish Navy for its helicopters and Turkey for its T-129 attack helicopter.
In service since the early 1990s on attack helicopters such as the Apache, the Hellfire II uses laser guidance to lock on targets from as far as eight kilometers away.
Tuesday, August 26, 2008
U.S. Orders Thousands of Hellfire Missiles
U.S. Orders Thousands of Hellfire Missiles(NSI News Source Info) 26 August, 2008: The U.S. Army has purchased thousands of Hellfire II precision-strike, laser-guided missiles for helicopters, UAVs, and possibly, tripods and Humvees, service officials said.
A U.S. AH-1 Cobra fires a Hellfire II missile. (Lockheed Martin Missiles and Fire Control)
Signed Aug. 21, the $357 million deal is to begin delivery in 2010. It also includes options to buy more in 2009 and 2010; if exercised, these options would sustain Hellfire production into 2013 and put the total number of missiles purchased over 15,000, the U.S. Army's largest Hellfire purchase to date, said Lockheed Martin Air-to-Ground Missile System Program Manager Ken Musculus.
The purchase will also send missiles to France, Greece and the Netherlands via the Foreign Military Sales program.
The purchase will be France's first, bringing the total of Hellfire-customer nations to 16, U.S. Army Joint Attack Munitions Systems Program Manager Col. Mike Cavalier said. France will use the missile to arm its 40 HAD Tiger attack helicopters, scheduled to arrive in 2012.
The Army plans to use the missiles, which will include high-explosive anti-tank and blast-fragmentation variants, to arm UAVs.
"The Air Force has been putting them on the Predator and the Reaper. The Sky Warrior A [Army UAV] has been weaponized and fielded," Cavalier said.
The Army also plans to experiment with mounting the missile on other land-based platforms.
"Over the past four years, we have started to get aggressive with Hellfire," Musculus said. "All I can say is we do have several programs we are undertaking to put the Hellfire missiles on a BMP [Soviet-built infantry fighting vehicle], on tripods and on applications to put it on ships."
The Army's Future Combat Systems modernization program is exploring possible uses for the weapon.
"We have Future Combat Systems out here and we work with them on a daily basis," Cavalier said. "There are some initiatives that have come up."
Other allied nations may buy the missiles, Lockheed and Army officials said: the Spanish Navy for its helicopters and Turkey for its T-129 attack helicopter.
In service since the early 1990s on attack helicopters such as the Apache, the Hellfire II uses laser guidance to lock on targets from as far as eight kilometers away.
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