Page 43 - Australian Defence Mag Jul-Aug 2020

JULY/AUGUST 2020 | WWW.AUSTRALIANDEFENCE.COM.AU
WEAPONS 5TH GEN 43
AMONG these are follow-on weapons for plat- forms such as the F-35A Lightning II, F/A-18F Super Hornet and EA-18G Growler, but also future weapons, which will harness emerging technology.
Many of these weapons will be acquired through existing platform acquisition programs, such as the ADF’s MQ-9B Reaper acquisition project (Air 7003), but others, such as a future maritime strike weapon (Air 3023), will be delivered under stand-alone projects.
CURRENT WEAPONS
With the retirement of the last F/A-18A/B Classic Hornet at the end of 2021, RAAF air to air weapons will be stan- dardised on the ubiquitous US combination of Raytheon AIM-9X Sidewinder and AIM-120 Advanced Medium Range Air to Air Missile (AMRAAM).
The latest exportable versions of these two complemen- tary missiles, AIM-9X-2 and AIM-120D are already in the RAAF inventory for use of F-35As and further stocks are being acquired under Air 6000 Phase 5. Earlier versions of both weapons, AIM-9X and AIM-120B and AIM-120C-5, are also in service on F-35As, Super Hornets and Growlers.
The AIM-9X-2 (Block II) missile features an updated electronics system and a new data link which will confer a Lock On After Launch capability which in the future may permit the weapon to be carried internally in the F-35A.
Long-range stand-off air-to-surface strike capability is currently provided by the Lockheed Martin AGM-158A Joint Air to Surface Strike Missile (JASSM), which was integrated onto the Classic Hornet, and the US Navy-stan- dard Raytheon AGM-154 Joint Stand Off Weapon (JSOW) on the Super Hornet.
Whether JASSM remains in the inventory after the with- drawal of the Classic Hornet remains to be seen, but the US F-35 Joint Program Office is certifying the AGM-154C SLT (Stationary Land Target)and AGM-154C-1 MMT (Moving Maritime Target) missiles on RAAF F-35As.
Air to ground weapons available to all RAAF combat jets includes the Raytheon Paveway series of laser-guided bombs and variants of the GPS-guided Boeing GBU-31 Joint Direct Attack Munition (JDAM) and Boeing GBU-39 and Raytheon GBU-53/B Stormbreaker (formerly known as Small Diameter Bomb). War stocks
of these weapons are being acquired
under Air 6000 Phase 3.
The Growler uses both kinetic and
non-kinetic weapons to achieve dom-
inance in the electromagnetic spec-
trum, the former including Raytheon
AGM-88 High Speed Anti-Radiation
Missile (HARM) and Northrop
Grumman AGM-88E Advanced Anti-
Radiation Guided Missile (AARGM).
Australia’s Growlers (unlike their US
Navy brethren) also have an LGB ca-
pability, thanks to the integration of Raytheon’s ASQ-228 Advanced Targeting Forward-Looking Infra-Red (AFTLIR) pod. Non-kinetic weapons employed are primarily the ALQ- 99 Jamming pods, but Australia is contributing to the Next Generation Jammer (NGJ) series of programs and these are likely to be adopted in the future.
The primary air-launched anti-shipping missile in the ADF is the Boeing AGM-84 Harpoon, which is used by the Super Hornet and Boeing P-8A Poseidon maritime re- connaissance fleets, and the P-8A also uses the Raytheon Mk.54 lightweight torpedo.
Air to ground missiles currently employed by the Navy’s Sikorsky MH-60S Seahawk maritime combat helicopter in- cludes the Lockheed Martin AGM-114N Hellfire, equipped
LEFT: The UK’s MQ-9B Protector will be delivered with MBDA’s Brimstone air to ground missiles and Lockheed Martin Paveway IV laser guided bombs as the baseline weapons configuration.
“I THINK WE’LL RUN
A COMPETITION, THE REAPER PLATFORM HAS A RANGE OF USERS, SO THERE ARE MORE OPTIONS THAN JUST HELLFIRE.”
MBDA