Just saw this!

http://news.yahoo.com/watch-f-...guide-170458025.html

Peter.

That's cool! Thanks.

Didn't the Germans destroy the Italian Fleet with aircraft guided glide bombs in WW2?

That's fun, but how useful would it be in combat?

quote:

a new way to guide long-range cruise missiles to hit moving targets accurately.......The method will allow the Navy to stretch the reach of the Tomahawk Block IV’s 1,000-nautical mile range, which can receive new information mid-flight to update its path and strike moving targets.

In other words, it allows ships to fire cruise missiles at moving targets that would normally be too far away to accurately engage. A ship cannot be everywhere at once and ships move relatively slowly. They cannot rapidly close with a target hundreds of miles away,especially if that target is also moving. But aircraft can quickly close with or acquire distant targets. Now a ship can fire cruise missiles from a distance that would normally make it nearly impossible to hit a moving target but all they have to do is get it close. The target can be 1000+ miles away and an aircraft can ensure a precise hit.

Attack aircraft don't carry missiles as large as naval cruise missiles. Ships cannot fire cruise missiles accurately at a moving target 1000 miles away. Put the two together and you can launch a missile from that distance and have it hit a moving target with precision. It is synergy or, in military parlance, force multiplication.

An additional benefit is that it may allow our ships to attack an enemy ship while remaining beyond the reach of enemy missiles.

Thanks for 'splainin' dat, Grenadier. I thought our guidance and targeting systems were much more precise even at distance. Did not realize the value in having a fighter guide it in the last few miles.

Moving is the operative word. Especially if the target is moving unpredictably.

Thought Argentinian Excocets did this during the Falklands war ?

Grizz

The Excocet had a range of under 100 nautical miles (NM) and delivered a 364 pound warhead.
The Tomahawk Missile used in the demonstration has a range of over 1000 NM, over 1500 NM in some configurations, and delivers a 1000 pound warhead

Grenadier:

Let's assume the target vessel is a combatant with modern and robust defensive capabilities. Can the F18 safely "guide" the missle to the target without entering a threat zone and becoming vulernable to defensive measures?

The Exocet is launched from an aircraft not a ship. It uses active radar, initially downloaded from the aircraft that launched it, but then updated by the missiles own radar. It is normally launched from 'over the horizon" but it is moving at 600 mph while the target is moving at maybe 35 kts. the target will not get far in the time between launch and the time of the missiles own radar acquisition. It comes in fast AND low 20-30 ft. above sea level.
Peter

DANG!