ViaSat Sees Opportunities Beyond JSOW, Including JASSM and SDB
Defense Daily 12/17/02
author: Lorenzo Cortes
ViaSat [VSAT],having recently completed a successful test of its networking guidance technology onboard Raytheon's
[RTN] Joint Standoff Weapon (JSOW) in conjunction with Northrop Grumman's [NOC] Joint Surveillance and Target
Attack Radar System (Joint STARS), sees future opportunities to incorporate its networking capabilities on cruise missiles
such as Lockheed Martin's [LMT] Joint Air-to-Surface Standoff Missile (JASSM) and the future Small Diameter Bomb
(SDB), according to a top company official.
Pete Camana, ViaSat's director of systems architecture and applications, told Defense Daily in an interview last week the
company's technology is a transformational aid, allowing weapons such as JASSM and JSOW to be redirected against
mobile targets like Scud missile launchers.
ViaSat's work with JSOW stems from its involvement in the Affordable Moving Surface Target Engagement (AMSTE)
program. AMSTE, managed by the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency with Northrop Grumman as the prime
contractor, is designed primarily to allow precision-guided munitions to strike continuously moving targets.
Camana said ViaSat is responsible for installing the redirection technology onboard weapons such as JSOW. For the test,
the company installed what ViaSat calls a "breadbox" unit that contained the necessary radio and antenna equipment to
link the JSOW with the Link 16 network.
An F/A-18 built by Boeing [BA] fired the modified JSOW during a test of the AMSTE technology on Sept. 30 against a
remotely controlled M60 tank (Defense Daily, Oct. 17). Camana said the redirected JSOW scored a direct hit on the
target, and was a breakthrough for the company.
He also said that plugging weapons like JSOW into the expansive Link 16 network offered flexibility for both tactical and
strategic assets. A major strategic targeting platform like Joint STARS, for instance, would not have to be the only
platform responsible for redirecting weapons to new targets. Another aircraft, such as the Lockheed Martin F-35 Joint
Strike Fighter, could be responsible for such tasks, given that in a theater of operations, Link 16 provides all American
combatants with the same operational picture.
Camana said an area of growth for ViaSat's technology is on cruise missiles and guidance kits for SDB. A weapon like
JASSM, given its standoff launch profile, could be programmed for redirection against mobile targets. Camana also said
ViaSat is working on collapsing the size of the breadbox structure installed for the September JSOW test to a unit roughly
the size of a cellular phone. ViaSat believes that shrinking the networking technology it develops allows for integration with
the winner of the SDB competition between Boeing and Lockheed Martin.
The SDB prime contract should be awarded in FY '03. It is currently planned to be loaded onboard Boeing's F-15E Strike
Eagle fighter and eventually the F/A-22 fighter built by Lockheed Martin.
Additionally, the technology is not tied solely to aviation platforms. Camana thinks there is an opportunity for ViaSat in the
NetFires fire support system, specifically in the loitering attack missile variant planned in the program. The Link 16
redirection technology could also be installed on the Navy's Tactical Tomahawk cruise missile built by Raytheon.
ViaSat said that it would likely take two years to integrate its technology onboard missiles currently in service, and about
three for weapons currently in development. The company is looking forward to successfully completing a live kill against
a real target in combat. |
