USSOCOM seeks powered stand-off precision-guided munition for gunships and other aircraft

[Zarvan]

A US Marine Corps KC-130J Harvest HAWK gunship showing the ramp-mounted tube launchers for the aft-firing AGM-176A Griffin A missile. The Griffin could satisfy a new USSOCOM requirement to equip a number of air platforms, including US Air Force AC-130W/J gunships. Source: US Marine Corps

The US Special Operations Command (USSOCOM) has issued a request for information (RFI) for the procurement of a powered stand-off precision-guided munition (SOPGM) for employment aboard gunship variants of the Lockheed Martin C-130 Hercules and Cessna Grand Caravan, as well as for other undisclosed air platforms.

The RFI, which was issued in 26 February, calls for a SOPGM to be carried aboard Air Force Special Operations Command (AFSOC) AC-130W Dragon Spear/Stinger II and AC-130J Ghostrider gunships, allied-operated AC-208 Combat Caravan light strike platforms, as well as other manned and unmanned special operations forces (SOF) aircraft.

As noted in the RFI, the SOPGM should be a 50 lb-class munition (including the weight of the Common Launch Tube [CLT] from which it should be fired); can be carrier internally or externally; it should be lethal against static and manoeuvring people and non-armoured vehicles (at speeds exceeding 60 mph [97 km/h] for the latter); it should be equipped with an operator-selected fuze mode for air burst or contact detonation; and it should have a modular warhead that can be removed and replaced without modification to other munition components in non-factory environments.

The munition must be Technology & Integration Readiness Levels 9 (a system that has already been proven through real-world operations) and 5 (fairly advanced control between the technologies necessary for the integration), respectively; and must have demonstrated reliability greater than 90% and accuracy of less than 2 m with 90% Circular Error Probable (supported by 100 or more operationally relevant employments).

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