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 SLAM is a spin-off
from the radar-guided air-launched Harpoon anti-ship missile. The
SLAM-ER is an upgrade of the original missile. SLAM-ER uses GPS
midcourse and IR terminal guidance to strike at surface targets
with high precision. The missile is offered as a new production or
retrofit kits for existing SLAM missiles which are operational
with the US Navy since 1988. SLAM ER entered US Navy service in
2000. The retrofit upgrades include planar wings to improve range
and aerodynamic performance; an improved warhead to increase
penetration and lethality against hardened targets; and software
improvements making it easier for the control aircraft to select
the precise hit-point on the target. The missile is equipped with
a 500 pound derivative of the Tomahawk
Block III warhead developed by the Naval Air Warfare Center
Weapons Division, China Lake, Calif. The WDU-40/B warhead uses a
titanium case shaped specifically to increase penetration and
becomes reactive during detonation, substantially increasing the
blast and incendiary effects.
SLAM ER achieved an
early operational capability in the summer of 1999 and is
currently deployed on several aircraft carriers with F/A-18, P-3
and S-3 aircraft. Boeing is currently under contract with the U.S.
Navy to produce 346 SLAM-ERs, beyond 2004. Approximately 700 SLAM
missiles in the U.S. Navy arsenal will be retrofitted with the
SLAM-ER upgrade. South Korea will buy SLAM-ER under a $70 million
contract, for its new F-15K multi-role fighter aircraft.
SLAM-ER provides
surgical strike capability against high-value, fixed land targets,
ships in port, or at sea. Designed for deployment from
carrier-based and land-based aircraft, SLAM-ER can also be adapted
for ship launch. The missiles is launched from a distance beyond
150 nautical miles, and flies a subsonic flight, navigating by
INS/GPS navigation system. The
missile can also receive in-flight target position updates on its
midcourse flight, to enable effective engagement of moving targets
such as surface ships at sea. Several miles from the target, on
the terminal phase of the flight, the SLAM-ER activates its
imaging infrared sensor. Images are processed by the Automatic
Target Acquisition (ATA) processor. The missile's image processor
use pattern-matching algorithms to compare the target scene with
on-board reference images to automatically locate the pre-planned aimpoint in the target scene. The Weapon System Operator or pilot
can then designate a specific aimpoint to be attacked, or verify
the decision taken by the missile. To provide faster, clear image
transfer over narrow-band datalink, the system utilizes a special
Stop Motion Aimpoint Update which can be viewed on the F/A-18
multifunction display console in the launch aircraft or any other
aircraft equipped with compatible datalink, to provide near-real
time battle damage assessment.
One of the unique
features introduced with the SLAM ER software modifications update
was In-Flight Flex-Targeting capability which enables effective
retargeting of the missile after launch. In Operation Iraqi
Freedom, SLAM-ER’s video link provided valuable bomb damage
assessment to the mission planners. SLAM-ER pilots not only
identified the true locations, they re-targeted the missiles using
aimpoint refinement alone to hit those targets. This capability is
facilitated by using streaming midcourse updates from F/A-18
Multifunctional Information Distribution System (MIDS) using
existing network rates and targeting sources, such as JSTARS and
UAVs.
SLAM ER's anti-ship performance is critical for achieving dominant
control in the littorals. The littoral, defined as the waterways
100 miles off the coastline and 50 miles inland, is one of the
U.S. Navy's most complex and challenging environments in which to
operate effectively. Future joint military operations are based on
the U.S. Navy's fundamental and dominant control of the littorals,
which are typified by areas of heavily trafficked commercial
sea-lanes, shallow depths and irregular landmasses such as inlets,
rivers, islands and harbors. Dominance of this area is essential
to providing protected access to the theater for arriving forces,
seizing or establishing shore bases and providing command and
control for immediate operations.
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