7. DISCUSIÓN
7.1. El eje CXCR-CXCL12 como diana de la terapia antitumoral
SMALLER, LIGHTER, FASTER... MORE POWER
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While the Raytheon Talon, which has just been ordered into production by the United Arab Emirates armed forces, is described as a legacy Hydra-70 rocket fitted with a new front laser guidance section (including three flip-out control surfaces), it is interesting to note that the tail fins too have been substantially modified. (Armada/Eric H. Biass)
various platforms, including the MH-60L.
Also worthy of note is the 70 mm Roketsan Cirit, designed to fulfil a Turkish Army requirement to arm the new TAI T129 Atak helicopter and Bell AH-1W.
Cirit has a launch weight of 15 kg and a range of 8000 metres.
The latest project in this context Is the Roquette a Precision Métrique (RPM), which is largely being private-ventured by the Thales Group’s TDA Armements, although the French Defence Ministry’s DGA procurement agency is funding the new warhead and fuze, and providing the Eurocopter Tiger HAP platform and trials facilities at BA120 Cazaux. The DGA views
the MPR (also known as MPR for Metric Precision Rocket in English) as part of its wider Munition à Precision Métrique (MPM) effort to provide common, low-cost components for guided artillery and tank shells, and mortar bombs.
The RPM is based on TDA’s well-established 68 mm SNEB rocket projectile.
It has a launch weight of 8.8 kg, and is designed to engage a target moving at 55 km/hr at a range of 6100 metres, with a CEP of one metre, and no blast effects beyond 20 metres. One unique feature of RPM is that it uses induction technology to communicatewith the launch platform, eliminating cable connectors and thus benefiting reliability, while reducing maintenance and reload times.
Ground tests of the RPM by DGA’s Centre d’Essais de Lancement de Missiles (CELM) began in 2012, followed by the first Tiger HAP launch in January 2014. The warhead and fuze will be tested in 2015. The basic objective is to arm the French Army’s Tigre HAP/HAD, but also to suit operation from a This 70-mm Lockheed Martin Dagr (Direct Attack Guided Rocket) is being fired from an early prototype of the same company’s JLTV (Joint Light Tactical Vehicle), which is aimed at replacing the US Army/Marine Corps Humvee. (Lockheed Martin).
First unveiled by Thales at the Cazeau French Air force base last May, the 8.8-kilo RPM is now expected to see its first launch from a Tiger helicopter take place in January 2014.
The seeker could be later used for other applications like 155mm howitzer, 120mm tank and 120mm mortar ammunition.
(Armada/Eric H. Biass)
105/122 mm gun. Helicopter launch can initial operational capability by 2018.
Although little publicised, there are laser-guided rockets in heavier calibres. Russia has developed the 122-mm S-13L and the 340-mm S-25L. MBDA has tested the 127-340-mm laser-guided Zuni, developed under a CRDA (Cooperative R&D Agreement) with the Naval Air Warfare Center at China Lake, California. The missile weighs 68 kg and carries an 18 kg warhead up to 16 km.
IHELLFIRE
In 1974 the US Army began development work on a helicopter-launched anti-armour guided missile. The broad requirements were for multiple target engagements in a single
sortie, plus the ability to attack targets that were exposed only briefly, by day or night.
Also required were extended range, and indirect fire capability (for example, from behind a hill, with lock-on after launch), the target in such cases being designated by another airborne platform or ground assets.
The resulting laser-homing Rockwell AGM-114A Hellfire (Helicopter-launched Fire-and-forget) missile entered production in 1982. It weighed 45 kg, which was twice the weight of the wire-guided Hughes BGM-71 Tow and Euromissile Hot, due to Hellfire’s 8000 metre range, 9.0 kg warhead and supersonic cruise (peaking at Mach 1.4).
In 1996 Rockwell sold its defence and aerospace business to Boeing, which formed the joint venture Hellfire Systems with Lockheed Martin. For practical purposes, today Hellfire is a Lockheed Martin product, and the most important laser-guided missile so far developed.
The second-generation Hellfire II series began development in the early 1990s, starting with the AGM-114K, which has electro-optical countermeasures hardening and autopilot improvements that allow target reacquisition after loss of laser-lock. It has a tandem shaped-charge warhead to destroy armoured targets.
The AGM-114M has a blast-frag/
incendiary warhead for light vehicles, urban targets, caves and bunkers. The AGM-114N has a thermobaric or ‘metal augmented charge’ warhead for enclosures, urban
targets, air defence units and ships. The AGM-114P is a development of the anti-armour AGM-114K, with an increased look-angle, specifically for use on medium-altitude drones such as Predator and Reaper.
The latest major Hellfire development is the 50-kg AGM-114R (‘Romeo’), which is replacing the AGM-114K/M/N/P in US service. It has a new multi-purpose warhead with effects selectable for hard, soft or enclosed targets. It has a new inertial measuring unit that allows suitably equipped platforms to engage targets to the side and rear, without manoeuvring. Its enhanced guidance system allows firings from higher altitudes, improving impact angle and lethality.
Hellfire was first employed operationally in the US invasion of Panama in 1989, followed by Operation Desert Storm in 1991, when it achieved a 79% hit rate. It has been used in every US action since, including the targeted killings of terrorist leaders, using drone platforms. There has been one recorded air-air engagement, in which an IDF AH-64A in 2001 shot down a Cessna training aircraft entering Israeli airspace from the Lebanon. The Hellfire is used by a total of 25 nations.
IOTHER HOMERS
The precision, affordability and operational flexibility of laser spot homing encouraged its use in other missiles, one example being Weighing less than 50 kg, the Lockheed Martin AGM-114 Hellfire is easily loaded by hand, in
this case on to a US Navy Sikorsky SH-60B Seahawk of HSL-46 ‘Grandmasters’ aboard cruiser CG-69, USS Vicksburg. (US Navy)
The Israel Aerospace Industries Nimrod is an anti-tank and anti-personnel missile with the remarkable range of 26 km, launched from a ground vehicle or helicopter. It has typically been used from the CH-53 in supporting IDF special operations. (IAI)
Interest in helicopter weapons with reduced collateral effects has emphasised lightweight laser-guided 70 mm rockets, but much heavier projectiles are being developed. This 127 mm laser-guided Zuni weighed 68 kg at launch. (MBDA).
the Lockheed Martin AGM-65 Maverick, which had begun life in 1972 with EO guidance. The 300 kg laser homing AGM-65E with 136 kg penetration blast-fragmentation warhead has a range of around 22 km. It was developed specifically for close support, and is used primarily by the US Marine Corps. The AGM-65E was last manufactured in the mid-1980s.
In Iraq an urgent need arose for a missile to strike fast, manoeuvring targets, typically as insurgents fled after planting roadside bombs. Under US Air Force funding, Raytheon developed a modernised version of the AGM-65E with a more advanced laser seeker and upgraded guidance. The US Air Force refers to this as the AGM-65L, and the Navy and Marine Corps as the AGM-65E2.
Israel Aerospace Industries (IAI) has developed two anti-armour laser spot homing missiles, suitable for both ground and airborne applications. The 13 kg Lahat has a 4.5 kg shaped charge warhead and a range of 8000 metres from ground launch. It was developed initially for use from the Merkava tank, but can be fired from any 105/122 mm gun. Helicopter launch can The Israel Aerospace Industries
Lahat(LAser-Homing ATack) missile can be fired from a 105/120 mm tank gun, or launched from a canister on a light vehicle or helicopter. (IAI)
Denel Dynamics has now completed development of the laser-homing Mokopa anti-armour missile, which provides the unusually long range of 10,000 metres when fired from a helicopter. (Armada/RB)
increase range up to 13,000 metres.
The IAI Nimrod-2 is a 100 kg missile with a 14 kg warhead and a range of up to 36 km from fixed-wing launch, although in IDF use it is typically fired from a CH-53. There are reports of a Nimrod-3 with 50 km range.
Russia’s Zvezda-Strela, now Tactical Missiles Corp, developed two laser homing air-ground missiles: the 25ML and Kh-29L. The 310-kg Kh-25ML (AS-10) has an 86 kg warhead, and the 660 kg Kh-29L (AS-14) has a 320 kg warhead. Both have a range of ten kilometres.
South Africa’s Denel Dynamics has completed development of the 49.8-kg Mokopa (Black Mamba) laser homing missile, which has the remarkable maximum range of 10,000 metres. It is now being integrated on the Rooivalk (Red Kestrel) helicopter.
Diehl BGT Defence is developing a laser-guided Sidewinder (Lags), replacing the infrared seeker of the AIM-9L (which Diehl has produced under licence) with a semi-active laser unit, to produce a lightweight (87 kg) close support weapon for soft targets.
Lags is aimed at making use of legacy Sidewinders that are being replaced
bymissiles such as the Iris-T. Development is due to be completed by 2015.
One new missile rushed into service for use in Mali is the Sagem SBU-54 Hammer, which adds a laser seeker to the baseline GPS/INS-guided Aasm (SBU-38). France’s DGA ordered 380 SBU-54s, and qualified it in April 2012. This allowed the French Air Force to declare a limited initial operational capability in May 2013, with target designation by the Thales Damocles pod. It is currently cleared for targets moving at up to 50 km/hr, but this is later to be increased to 80 km/hr. The SBU-54 has a range of 20 km from low level, or 60 km from altitude. The current missile (Aasm-250) is based on a 250 kg warhead, but versions with 125 and 500 kg warheads are available, and a 1000 kg variant is under development, with larger wings and
more powerful rocket motor. The SBU-64 version employs imaging-infrared guidance.
Russia has been a leader in developing barrel-launched laser homing munitions, notably the KBP-designed Gran 120 mm mortar bomb, and the 122-mm Kitilov-2M and 152/155-mm Krasnopol artillery rounds.
I BEAM RIDERSS
Whereas Denel’s ultra-long range Mokopa is designed for a target that may be laser-designated by an external source, being out of sight of the launch platform, the company’s 28.5 kg, 5000 metre range Ingwe (Leopard) employs laser beam riding. In pre-production ZT3 form it was used by South African forces in Angola in 1987 to destroy a number of T55 tanks.
Ingwe is available in tandem warhead or Multi-Purpose Penetrator (MPP) form. At IDEX-2013 Denel unveiled the Ingwe Portable Launch System (IPLS), for firings from a tripod or a light vehicle.
Laser beam riding has been adopted for several Russian anti-armour missiles. These include the KBP-designed ground-based 9K116 Bastion 10), 9K119 Refleks (AT-11) and 9K133 Kornet (AT-14), and helicopter-launched missiles, notably the KBM-designed 9K121 Vikhr (AT-16).
Arming the latest Russian attack helicopters, the Vikhr weighs 45 kg (59 kg in its launch tube) and has a range of 10,000 metres. KBP has also developed a family of laser beam Most laser beam-riding anti-armour missiles
come from Russia, but there are exceptions, such as South Africa’s Denel Dynamics Ingwe, which is available with tandem shaped charges or a multi-purpose penetrator warhead. (Armada/Eric H. Biass).
The KBP-designed laser beam-riding 9K133 Kornet was reportedly used to destroy US Abrams tanks in the 2003 invasion of Iraq, and was used by Hezbollah to destroy Israeli Merkava tanks in the 2006 Lebanon war.
(Armada/Eric H. Biass).
riding rounds for 100/115/125 mm tank guns.
Kornet entered service in 1994 and is used by 15 nations. The latest variant is the Kornet-EM, which fires various rounds, including the 33-kg 9M133FM-3, which carries a thermobaric warhead to a range of 10,000 metres.
One significant development is the KBM-designed Khrizantema-S tank-destroyer system. This combines the 9M123 (AT-15) missile with the BMP-3 chassis, which accommodates 15 rounds internally. The weapon is available in the 9M123 tandem
shaped charge or 9M123F thermobaric warhead form, and can be fired using laser beam riding or mm-wave radar command guidance. Two targets can be engaged simultaneously, using different guidance systems. The 46-kg 9M123 has an 8.0 kg warhead and a range of 6000 metres.
I AIR DEFENCE
Laser beam riding offers unjammable guidance, but miss distance is proportional to firing range, hence this system is suitable only for short ranges.
One highly successful air defence example of such systems is the Saab Bofors Dynamics RBS 70 family, which uses a thermal imager for night capability. Its warhead combines a shaped charge with 3000 tungsten balls, so that it can effectively engage both lightly armoured ground vehicles and aircraft (using a proximity fuze). The RBS 70 entered service with the Swedish Army in 1977.
Around 1600 systems with 17,000 missiles have now been sold to 18 countries. The current RBS 70 NG uses the Mk2 or Bolide round, with a slant range of 8000 metres and a ceiling of 5000 metres.
The Thales Air Defence (TADL) Starstreak is a somewhat lighter system, and is available in shoulder-launched form, although it is also used from a ground-mounted lightweight multiple launcher or from a vehicle. The design emphasis was on minimising time of flight, in engaging attack helicopters exposed for only a few seconds. It launches at Mach 3.5 three hit-to-kill laser beam-riding explosive
‘darts’, each weighing 0.9 kg.
Like the RBS 70, Starstreak employs Saclos guidance, the gunner holding his sight (and thus the laser beam) on the target throughout missile flight. It entered service with the British Army in 1997, and was subsequently exported to South Africa and Thailand. The Starstreak II, unveiled in 2007, increases range to over 7000 metres.
The most widely used laser beam-riding air defence system is the Saab Bofors Dynamics RBS70, which has full day/night capability and a warhead that is effective against both aircraft and lightly armoured ground vehicles. (Saab).
Fired from its lightweight multiple launcher (LML), the Thales Starstreak has been ejected from its canister by the first stage rocket, and will next accelerate to around Mach 3.5 to release its three laser beam-riding explosive ‘darts’. (Thales)
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INTERNATIONAL6/2013