sysmgr@KING.ENG.UMD.EDU (Doug Mohney) (08/07/90)
From: sysmgr@KING.ENG.UMD.EDU (Doug Mohney) Can anyone give enlightment on the current status of the "Assault Breaker" program? It was supposed to mount a sideways looking radar on a Boeing 707 and look down into the battlefield for 100+ kilometers. I think that maybe 1 or 2 planes are in engineering test at the moment in Europe, or were going to be put on engineering test. I'm wondering how much trouble it would be to fly one of these off to the Middle East to call targets for F-15/16/18s.
chamber@ee.udel.edu (Sam Chamberlain) (08/10/90)
From: Sam Chamberlain <chamber@ee.udel.edu> In article <1990Aug7.040733.6528@cbnews.att.com> sysmgr@KING.ENG.UMD.EDU (Doug Mohney) writes: > > >From: sysmgr@KING.ENG.UMD.EDU (Doug Mohney) >Can anyone give enlightment on the current status of the "Assault Breaker" >program? It was supposed to mount a sideways looking radar on a Boeing 707 >and look down into the battlefield for 100+ kilometers. ... It sounds like you might be referring to the airborne radar portion of the JSTARS (Joint Surveillance Target Attack Radar System) that uses the Air Force WAS/MTI (wide-area surveillance/moving target indicator) radar system carried onboard an E-8a (i.e., 707) aircraft. "Assualt Breaker," according to the Army Greenbook (October 1989, pg 352), is a defunct program (began in 1978) that evolved into the Joint Tactical Missile System (JTACMS) by combining the Army corps support weapon system and the Air Force Conventional standoff weapon (in 1983). It became just TACMS in 1984 when the Air Force dropped out. LTV was awarded the contract in March 1986 and the first flight test was in April 1988. As of February 1989, it is now called Army TACMS (ATACMS). In any case, it is a missle system whose purpose is to attack deep targets of the second-echelon forces that are beyond the range of cannons and rockets. It is fired out of a modified MLRS (Multiple Launch Rocket System) launcher that can carry two ATACMS missles. The warhead consists of M74, dual-purpose, bomblets. The Greenbook states that "Currently, there are no planned changes to the force structure to accomodate Army TCMS" which means no decision has been made to deploy it. Back to the first paragraph, if memory serves me right, JSTARS is a Corp and higher asset that does not have the resolution required to provide target location data for artillery systems such as ATACMS. But I don't believe this was its intended purpose. Hence, the push for better long ranged RPV's (remotely piloted vehicles) that can get closer to provide higher resolution location data. Sam