The US State Department has approved the sale of 91 modernized AGM-88E anti-radiation guided missiles (Advanced Anti-Radiation Guided Missile, AARGM). In addition to the 81 missiles with warheads, the Air Force will receive eight self-guided missiles (Captive Air Training Missiles, CATM) for a total of 108 million euros. In addition, there are six telemetry systems, flight data recorders and technical and logistical support including associated equipment.
The federal government has commissioned the NATO Support and Procurement Agency (NSPA) to carry out procurement under the rules of Foreign Military Sales (FMS).
The AGM-88E AARGM is a further development of the AGM 88B HARM (High-Speed Anti-Radiation Missile), which was introduced into the Bundeswehr in 1988. The missile receives a new guidance unit including GPS, as well as an improved homing antenna and digital signal processor. Final approach becomes more efficient with a millimeter finder. The Bundeswehr supplies the manufacturer with a sufficient number of reusable components that are integrated into the new missiles.
Diehl Defense has concluded an exclusive cooperation agreement with the US company Orbital ATK (today a business unit of Northrop Grumman) for the marketing and production of the modern anti-radar guided missile AARGM (Advanced Anti-Radar Guided Missile) in Germany. After that, Diehl will take over significant parts of the work in Germany with regard to production and services in use.
The conversion will take at least five years. Representatives of the US government and US manufacturers will conduct two annual program management reviews during this period.
Background to the AARGM (AGM-88E)
The AARGM (Advanced Anti-Radiation Guided Missile) is an air-to-surface guided missile based on the AGM-88 developed by Northrop Grumman Innovation Systems (formerly Orbital ATK) and MBDA Italy, which is used to combat all components of an anti-aircraft missile site, in addition to radar devices i.e. launching racks and command post vehicles, has been optimized.
The guided missile, consisting of four modules, also offers the possibility of modifying older stocks of e.g. AGM-88B, so that the complete missile does not have to be procured from scratch to improve SEAD capability (Suppression of Enemy Air Defenses - German suppression of enemy air defenses). must.
Warhead (Warhead)
The warhead is unchanged from the WAU-7/B. Its characteristics are:
- Manufacturer Northrop Grumman Innovation Systems (formerly ATK),
- Weight about 68 kg
- proximity and impact fuse,
- 25,000 steel fragments.
Die Lebensdauer des Gefechtskopfes wird bis 2025 und darüber hinaus vorhergesagt.
Drive Unit (Rocket Motor and Fins)
In addition to the warhead, the drive part with its steering fins is the second module that is used from older HARM versions. Its characteristics are:
- Manufacturer Northrop Grumman Innovation Systems (formerly ATK),
- solid fuel drive with low smoke development,
- Initial weight about 181 kg,
Rocket engine lifespan is predicted to 2025 and beyond.
control unit
The control unit (Common Control Section, CCS) is newly developed and forms a sensor network with the steering unit. GPS and INS are supported by a Digital Terrain Elevation Database (DTED) file and feature Selective Availability Anti-Spoofing Module (SAASM) to decode more precise coordinates. This achieves the following skills:
- high accuracy to avoid collateral damage or endangering your own troops,
- Ensuring compliance with restrictions from the ROEs by planning and defining Areas of Regard (AOR) with Impact Avoidance Zone (IAZ) or Missile Impact Zone (MIZ),
- Attacks from a greater distance at high speed also on objects of an air defense position that do not radiate or on high-value targets whose coordinates have been reconnoitred.
steering unit
The guidance unit (Guidance Section) consists of the further developed digital homing head with frequency switching (anti-radiation homing, ARH) and the active MMW final phase guidance radar. With the digital homing head, the LFK is able to
- to achieve maximum flexibility and effect on the target through digital signal processing in target search and tracking up to the final phase,
- detect and identify most of today's threats with a broader frequency band,
- to achieve a greater range and thus earlier combat possibilities through a more sensitive search head,
- to cover a larger search area through an extended perspective.
Completely new abilities are built by the active MMW radar. This includes:
- Ability to identify and segregate between components of IADS or other facilities,
- high precision and great effect on the target through active final phase guidance,
high assertiveness and stability against defensive measures such as radar shutdown, GPS interference or position changes within the detection area.
Gerhard Heiming and Ulrich Rapreger
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