March 25, 2007:
After more than a decade of effort,
the APKWS (Advanced Precision Kill Weapons System), 70mm missile project has
been, well, put to sleep. Its funding has been zeroed out in the latest U.S.
defense budget, and the developer believes APKWS is dead. The main reason is
that there are already lots of other good guided missile designs already out
there (44 pound Viper Strike, hundred pound Hellfire and 600 pound Maverick),
and that APKWS simply isn't needed.
Back in the Fall of 2005, after nine years of
effort, the U.S. Army finally got the 70mm air-to-ground guided rocket to work, at least during tests.
The APKWS (Advanced Precision Kill Weapons System) is a 25 pound rocket, with a
laser seeker and a six pound warhead. It has a range of about six kilometers.
The 2005 tests had one APKWS hit a stationary target 1.5 kilometers distant,
while a second rocket hit a moving target 3.3 kilometers away. Laser
designators on the helicopter, or with troops on the ground, is pointed at the
target, and the laser seeker in the front of the APKWS homes on the reflected
laser light.
The 2.75 inch (70mm) rockets were developed during
World War II as an air-to-air weapon for use against heavy bomber formations.
The Germans had developed such a successful weapon (the R4M), but before long
it was noted that neither the Japanese nor the Germans had any heavy bombers,
and the 70mm weapon was switched to air-to-ground use. The 70mm rocket became very popular in the
1960s, when it was discovered that the weapon worked very well when launched
from multiple (7 or 19 tube) launchers mounted on helicopters. The 42-55 inch
long rockets could be fired singly or in salvoes, and gave helicopter pilots
some airborne artillery for supporting troops on the ground. There were many
variations in terms of warheads and rocket motors. Some versions can go over 10
kilometers.
Developing the APKWS took so long because the
manufacturers underestimated the technical difficulties of getting the laser
seeker and flight control mechanisms into that small a package, at a weight and
price the army could afford. The price of the APKWS was supposed to get down to
$20,000 each (about the cost of a smart bomb), but the manufacturers had problems
doing that. As a result, Congress eventually lost patience.