megazone@wpi.WPI.EDU (MEGAZONE 23) (02/08/91)
From: megazone@wpi.WPI.EDU (MEGAZONE 23) Information: Hellfire >From The Encyclopedia of World Air Power, Cresent Books, 1980: Type: air-to-surface missile Powerplant: solid-propellant rocket motor Performance: cruising speed subsonic; maximum range 3.75 miles (6 km) Weight: 80lb (36 kg) Dimensions: span 13in (33cm); length 5ft 9in (1.76 m); diameter 7in (18 cm) Warhead: Firestone hollow-charge, weighing about 20lb (9 kg) Operator: US Army "The Rockwell Hellfire is being developed to arm the Hughes AH-64 Advanced Attack Helicopter, of which the US Army plans to buy 536 for delivery from 1982; each will carry up to 16 missiles. Hellfire derives its name from Heliborne Laser Fire-and-Forget, and the first version to be deployed will indeed employ semi-active laser guidance. The seeker being developed by Rockwell for this application is also planned to equip the AGM-65C version of the Hughes Maverick, along with a variant of the GBU-15 glide bomb. Targets will be illuminated by laser designators mounted either in the launch aircraft or on some other platform. In the former case the illuminator forms part of the AH-64's TADS (Target Acquisition and Designation System). Ground- based alternatives may include the Hughes PAQ-1 LTD (Laser Target Designator), TVQ-2 GLLD (Ground Laser Locator Designator) or MULE (Modular Universal Laser Equipment). Hellfire has been developed from the Hornet test vehicle and may form the basis of other weapons. Alternative television and imaging infra-red terminal seekers have been developed, and the same airframe could be adapted for defence suppression by fitting a dual-mode infra-red/radio-frequency homing head. In this form it becomes ADSM (Air Defence Suppression Missile). The AH-64 gunner/co-pilot uses TADS to search for, detect and recognise targets to be attacked with Hellfire, employing the system's direct-view optics, television or forward-looking infra-red sensor either singly or in combination. He can then track a target either manually or automatically and, once it is being illuminated by a laser, launch a missile against it. The advantage of using a designator on the ground or in another vehicle is that the AH-64, unlike helicopters armed with the current generation of anti-tank missiles, can escape from the target area as soon as a round has been fired." >From The US War Machine, Salamander Books, 1983 Origin: Rockwell International, USA Type: Laser-guided "fire and forget' missile Propulsion: Thiokol TX657 reduced-smoke "all-boost" motor Dimensions: Length 64in (1.626mm), body diameter 7in (178mm) Launch weight: 98.86lb (44.84kg) Range: Up to "several kilometers","far in excess of present anti-armor systems" Flight speed: Transonic, quickly builds to Mach 1.17 Warhead: Firestone 20lb (9kg) 7in-diameter hollow charge "A direct descendent of Rockwell's Hornet, this missile has applications against hard point targets of all kinds, though it is officially described as "the USA's next-generation anti-armor weapon system". Numerous development firings took place from 1971 before full engineering go-ahead was received in October 1976. It has semi-active laser homing with a very advanced seeker from Martin Marietta. The seeker has a Cassegrain telescope under the hemi- spherical glass nose sending signals to the electronics section with micro- processor logic. Steering is by four canard controls, and Hellfire can pull 13g at Mach 1.17. The US Under-Secretary of Defense, The Hon. William J. Perry, said "This missile most often goes right through the center of the bull's eye". The primary carrier is the AH-64A Apache helicopter (16 rounds) but Hellfire has flown on the Cobra and the A-10A Thunderbolt II fixed-wing platform. Numerous Hellfires have been launched without prior lock-on, some of them in rapid-fire homing in on different multiple targets using ground designators with individual coding. The missile notices the laser radiation in flight, locks-on and homes at once. IOC will now be 1984, by which time this missile will probably also be developed with "launch-and-leave" IIR guidance. The first 680 rounds are being delivered before September 1984." ############################################################################### # "Calling Garland operator 7G," EVE Email megazone@wpi.wpi.edu # # MEGAZONE, aka DAYTONA, aka BRIAN BIKOWICZ Bitnet Use a gateway. Sorry. # ###############################################################################