U.S. Army fires TALON Laser-Guided Rocket Rounds from OH-58D Kiowa Warrior

U.S. Army fires TALON Laser-Guided Rocket Rounds from OH-58D Kiowa Warrior
December 22, 2009

Demonstration addresses urgent U.S. Army operational need

EGLIN AIR FORCE BASE, Fla., -- The U.S. Army fired two TALON Laser-Guided Rocket guided test vehicle rounds during the Aviation Multi-Platform Munition Demonstration.

TALON LGR is a cooperative development effort between Raytheon Company (NYSE: RTN) and Emirates Advanced Investments of the United Arab Emirates.

The TALON LGR rounds were launched from a U.S. Army OH-58D Kiowa Warrior and hit targets at 3,500 meters (2.17 miles). This exceeded accuracy requirements for the Department of Defense's Advanced Precision Kill Weapon System II program.

"In September, the U.S. Army clearly stated the need for a guided munition capable of being launched from the OH-58D Kiowa Warrior," said Dr. Taylor W. Lawrence, Raytheon Missile Systems president. "TALON LGR can meet that operational need. U.S. forces will be able to obtain a fully qualified laser-guided rocket that meets or exceeds all the guided 70 mm rocket requirements without expending tens of millions of dollars in research, evaluation and testing."

The TALON LGR is a low-cost, semi-active laser guidance and control kit that connects directly to the front of the legacy 2.75-inch unguided rockets fired from the OH-58D Kiowa Warrior. It requires no software or hardware modifications to the launcher or aircraft platform and can be fired from any aircraft that fires 2.75-inch unguided rockets.

"LGR is a highly reliable precision rocket solution for a variety of fixed- and rotary-wing platforms," said Hussain Al Hammadi, EAI's chief executive officer. "The success of this demonstration further proves the TALON LGR will provide warfighters with a precision capability they've never had before."

TALON LGR fills the critical operational capability gap between unguided rockets and guided, heavy anti-tank missiles.

"This year's small-guided munition demonstration is critical because we're exploring options to provide precision-guided capabilities to our combatant commanders in Iraq and Afghanistan," said Col. Michael Cavalier, Joint Attack Munitions Systems project manager. "This demonstration has given us a better understanding of our options with regard to developing a precision-guided weapon that can be launched from a Kiowa Warrior."

EAI continues to be the region's leader in providing modernized defense capabilities to the United Arab Emirates.

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