In the trenchesIsraeli company shows unmanned smart-missile pack
A large box contains several vertically launched missiles and its own communications and power; it is generally light enough to be driven about by a Humvee or similar, parachuted down from a transport plane, dropped off by helicopter, tied down on the deck of a ship or barge; the missiles are launched by remote control
Israel has stolen a march on the United States in the matter of multipack unmanned cruise missile-in-a-box packages. An Israeli maker is showing its Jumper robo missile pack as ready for sale, while the rival U.S. Netfires system is still in development.
Lewis Page writes that the idea of such weapons is simple. A large box contains several vertically launched missiles and its own communications and power. It is generally light enough to be driven about by a Humvee or similar, parachuted down from a transport plane, dropped off by helicopter, tied down on the deck of a ship or barge, etc. It needs no crew in operation.
Once the box is in place, it awaits orders. A soldier far off, or an aircraft or UAV, can mark a target using map coordinates — and light it up with a laser pointer for extra precision if required. As soon as firing authority is given — by a remote command post, or by the commander on the ground — a missile is launched out of the box and flies to the designated coordinates using GPS satnav and inertial navigation. On arrival, it descends from the sky and strikes as precisely as a smart bomb — even hitting moving targets if laser pointing is available.
Page notes that the system solves many problems. Keeping aircraft overhead — even unmanned ones — costs a lot of money and ties up a lot of people. Having a battery of guns or normal bombardment rockets to hand is even worse: more people, on the ground this time, and the ammo and fuel have to be shipped all the way into the field.
With systems like Jumper or the American Netfires/Non Line Of Sight Launch System (NLOS-LS), there may not be a need for mortar platoons, artillery regiments, and strike air nearly so much. With soldiers packing a targeting laser able to knock out tanks, there may not be a need for too many combat soldiers, either.
Until now, the main contender in the field was the slow-to-develop NLOS-LS. Israel Aerospace Industries (IAI), though, announced that Jumper is ready to go. IAI say their box holds eight missiles compared to the NLOS-LS’s fifteen. Jumper is said to offer range of 50km, “several possible warheads,” “pinpoint accuracy and short time of flight … regardless of weather and visibility.”
