F-22Raptor
ELITE MEMBER
- Joined
- Jun 19, 2014
- Messages
- 16,980
- Reaction score
- 3
- Country
- Location
The U.S. Air Force is moving forward with two new weapons for its future fighters and bombers, the previously undisclosed Stand-in Attack Weapon (SiAW) and Small Advanced Capabilities Missile (SACM).
SiAW is an air-to-surface weapon, designed to “hold at risk the surface elements that make up the anti-access/area-denial environment,” the service says in written testimony to the Senate Armed Services Committee on March 29.
SACM is a miniature air-to-air weapon that will cost less and can be carried in greater numbers than today’s radar-guided Raytheon AIM-120 Advanced Medium-Range Air-to-Air Missiles and heat-seeking AIM-9X Sidewinder.
SACM was spawned by the Air Force Research Laboratory and the concept is now being matured under contract with Raytheon, along with the separate Miniature Self-Defense Munition. The laboratory began speaking publicly about SACM last year, but with scant detail.
There has been no prior mention of the SiAW surface attack weapon, and the acronym does not appear in any recent Air Force budget documents or technology roadmaps.
Service officials tell Congress that both weapons are being supported and are “crucial to realizing the full potential of our next generation of aircraft.” SACM is intended for future fighters born of the Penetrating Counter-Air (PCA) program.
SiAW will arm the Lockheed Martin F-35, Northrop Grumman B-21 and PCA/F-X. Both are designed for high-end warfare against peer adversaries such as Russia and China, which have each fielded an eclectic mix of surface-to-air and air-to-air weapons designed to undermine U.S. dominance of the skies.
http://aviationweek.com/awindefense/usaf-s-future-siaw-strike-weapon-arm-f-x-b-21
SiAW is an air-to-surface weapon, designed to “hold at risk the surface elements that make up the anti-access/area-denial environment,” the service says in written testimony to the Senate Armed Services Committee on March 29.
SACM is a miniature air-to-air weapon that will cost less and can be carried in greater numbers than today’s radar-guided Raytheon AIM-120 Advanced Medium-Range Air-to-Air Missiles and heat-seeking AIM-9X Sidewinder.
SACM was spawned by the Air Force Research Laboratory and the concept is now being matured under contract with Raytheon, along with the separate Miniature Self-Defense Munition. The laboratory began speaking publicly about SACM last year, but with scant detail.
There has been no prior mention of the SiAW surface attack weapon, and the acronym does not appear in any recent Air Force budget documents or technology roadmaps.
Service officials tell Congress that both weapons are being supported and are “crucial to realizing the full potential of our next generation of aircraft.” SACM is intended for future fighters born of the Penetrating Counter-Air (PCA) program.
SiAW will arm the Lockheed Martin F-35, Northrop Grumman B-21 and PCA/F-X. Both are designed for high-end warfare against peer adversaries such as Russia and China, which have each fielded an eclectic mix of surface-to-air and air-to-air weapons designed to undermine U.S. dominance of the skies.
http://aviationweek.com/awindefense/usaf-s-future-siaw-strike-weapon-arm-f-x-b-21
