14 Jul 14. Thales announced the launch of a new precision-guided air dropped munition, FreeFall Lightweight Multi-role Missile (FFLMM). The latest variant in Thales’s Lightweight Multi-role Missile (LMM) family, FFLMM is a precision-guided glide munition. It contains the same sophisticated warhead as Thales’s existing LMM, but is approximately half the size and weight because it does not incorporate a rocket motor. This also means there is no launch recoil or adverse impact on the platform, making it ideal for lightweight air platforms. Thales is the first European manufacturer to successfully demonstrate the delivery of a weapon of this type from a Tactical UAS platform. In a series of trials over the last year the company has proven the extremely low impact that the weapon and its stores release unit has on the performance and endurance of such a lightweight platform. FFLMM provides precise, proportionate effects in time-critical, network-centric Close Air Support (CAS) and Armed ISTAR missions against both fixed and moving targets. As these missions frequently require lower cost, lightweight platforms, there is an increasing need for suitably lightweight but effective weapons. FFLMM fills the emerging gap in the global weapons market for a highly-effective, accurate, low-collateral-damage weapon – one that is effective against all static and moving, conventional and asymmetric threats in both open and cluttered environments. The use of existing LMM modular building blocks produces a weapon that can be easily integrated on multiple manned and unmanned aircraft systems. Lightweight platforms, particularly Unmanned Air Systems (UAS), require payloads that generate a minimal impact on their aerodynamic performance their aerodynamic performance and endurance. With a length of 700mm and mass of less than 6kg, the low-drag FFLMM munition fulfills these challenging requirements. FFLMM employs sophisticated Inertial Navigation and GPS subsystems, which together with terminal guidance provided by a state-of-the-art Semi Active Laser (SAL) seeker, achieves extremely accurate and safe man-in-the-loop targeting. Strong partnerships will be critical to the success of FFLMM in the marketplace, both in development of the weapon and the integration onto a wide range of platforms. Thales has already formed a partnership with Textron Systems in the United States and over the past year this collaboration has resulted in outstanding success in demonstrating a complete system solution – including launching
FFLMM from a Textron unmanned aerial platform and precisely guiding the munition to the target. It is the intention that the FFLMM will be manufactured by Textron for the US market. FFLMM is exhibited at a number of locations at Farnborough International Airshow, including Thales (OE S1), Textron (OE L2), Britten Norman (OE 17) and Exelis (Hall 3 Booth B8).
13 Jul 14. A U.S. Air Force pilot successfully fired two Raytheon Company AIM 120 Advanced Medium Range Air-to-Air Missiles from an F-35B fighter aircraft. The missiles tracked and engaged two aerial targets during a Weapon Delivery Accuracy mission in Southern California. The test marked the first dual AMRAAM shot from any F-35 variant, and the first live AMRAAM shot from the F-35B. The F-35’s internally-carried AMRAAMs are a beyond-visual-range air-to-air missile capable of all-weather day-and-night operations and considered a “fire-and-forget” missile using active target radar guidance.
17 Jul 14. Raytheon Company showcased a new tri-band telemetry antenna on the company’s Mobile Range system during a Joint Advanced Missile Implementation (JAMI) demonstration at Naval Base Ventura County, Pt. Mugu, California. The event highlighted new technologies that will soon become the backbone of test ranges worldwide. Raytheon’s Mobile Range is an integrated suite of communications, optics, and telemetry capabilities that enables flight testing, demonstrations and data collection in a va