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AGM-84E Standoff Land Attack Missile

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AGM-84E Standoff Land Attack Missile
An AGM-84E Standoff Land-Attack Missile being loaded onto an F/A-18C Hornet
TypeAir-launched cruise missile
Place of originUnited States
Service history
In service1990 – 2000
Used byU.S. Navy
WarsGulf War, Bosnian War
Production history
DesignerMcDonnell Douglas
ManufacturerMcDonnell Douglas
Unit cost$720,000
Produced1991 – 1995
Specifications
Mass627 kg (1,382 lb)
Length4.50 m (14.8 ft)
Diameter34.3 cm (13.5 in)
Wingspan91.4 cm (3.00 ft)
EngineTeledyne CAE J402-CA-400 turbojet
Operational
range
>60 nmi (110 km; 69 mi)[1]
Maximum speed 855 km/h (530 mph, 0.698 Mach)[1]
Guidance
system
Inertial navigation system
Global Positioning System
Infrared homing
Datalink to the controlling aircraft
Launch
platform
Current:
P-3 Orion
Past:
F/A-18C Hornet,
S-3B Viking,
A-6E SWIP Intruder

The AGM-84E SLAM (Standoff Land Attack Missile) was a subsonic, over-the-horizon air-launched cruise missile that was developed by McDonnell Douglas from the AGM-84 Harpoon anti-ship missile.[2] The SLAM was designed to provide all-weather, day and night, precision attack capabilities against stationary high-value targets[1] as well as ships in port.[3]

Design

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Except for new technologies in the guidance and seeker sections, which included a Global Positioning System receiver, a modified AGM-65F Maverick missile IIR Seeker, and a modified Walleye datalink, all of the missile hardware came directly from the Harpoon missile.[4] SLAM missile uses an inertial navigation system, which is supplemented by Global Positioning System (GPS) input, and it also uses infrared homing terminal guidance.[1] It could also be guided by any aircraft carrying the AN/AWW-9B and AN/AWW-13 datalink pods.[2] The missile however was unable to avoid terrain, meaning that to attack a target, there had to be no obstacles in the path of the missile.[5]

Deployment in the Gulf War

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Developed in 48 months, three SLAMs were successfully employed during the Persian Gulf War, when they were used to strike Iraqi targets. These strikes, made exclusively by the few A-6E SWIP Intruders assigned to VA-75 on the USS John F. Kennedy (CV-67),[5] were before official operational testing of the new missile had begun.[6] Only five SLAMs were carried to the war, all on the Kennedy.[7] They had also been only been recently moved to carrier.[8]

The first time the SLAM was used in combat came on January 18, 1991, when two SLAMs, fired two minutes apart, were launched by an A-6E SWIP Intruder from VA-75 towards a Hydro-electric plant north of Baghdad on the Tigris River, specifically the power house and turbines.[9][7] This plant was targeted because it powered the Al-Qa'im superphosphate fertilizer plant (nicknamed 'Big Al'), known to produce yellowcake for uranium enrichment. The SLAMs were guided by an A-7E Corsair II from VA-72 (also from the Kennedy) via the use of a Datalink pod.[9][7][8][5]

Although GPS guidance could have done the job without the need of the Corsair II, the Navy need the Corsair II to allow the first SLAM to blast a hole, allowing the 2nd SLAM to fly through the hole and cause damage. The last SLAM used in the war was fired that same night against a dam known to generate electricity near Al Qa'im. The dam was reportedly disabled with that single hit.[7] The strike itself was also successful in that it enabled the Intruder to attack without entering the Missile Engagement Zone of Al-Qa'im.[8]

1990s and retirement

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Several months after the Gulf War, the SLAM was officially approved for full production on June 28, 1991.[3]

The SLAM was also used during NATO airstrikes in Bosnia during operations Deny Fly (1993-1995) and Deliberate Force (1995).[1] An F/A-18C (N) Hornet from VFA-151^ in February 1999 tested the SLAM's special GPS only guidance mode against a simulated SA-10 radar van in a target complex located on San Nicolas Island.[10][11]

In the year 2000, the SLAM was replaced in service by the AGM-84H SLAM-ER (Standoff Land Attack Missile Expanded Response), which had numerous new capabilities including increased target penetration and nearly twice the range of the older AGM-84E SLAM.[1]

See also

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References

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  1. ^ a b c d e f "AGM-84 Harpoon / SLAM [Stand-Off Land Attack Missile." Military Analysis Network. Federation of American Scientists, 20 July 2013. Web. 20 July 2013.
  2. ^ a b Kopp, Carlo (1 March 1988). "MDC AGM-84A Harpoon and AGM-84E SLAM". Australian Aviation. 1988 (March).
  3. ^ a b NAVY TRAINING PLAN FOR THE AGM-84E STANDOFF LAND ATTACK MISSILE (SLAM) - A-50-8813B/A MAY 1996 (PDF). United States Navy.
  4. ^ Hyslop, G.; Gerth, D.; Kraemer, J. (1990). "GPS/INS integration on the Standoff Land Attack Missile (SLAM)". IEEE Aerospace and Electronic Systems Magazine. 5 (7): 29–34. doi:10.1109/62.134218. ISSN 0885-8985.
  5. ^ a b c Morgan, Rick. A-6E Intruder Units: 1976-1996. Osprey Publishing.
  6. ^ Petty, Dan. "The US Navy -- Fact File: SLAM-ER Missile". www.navy.mil. Archived from the original on 26 July 2020. Retrieved 22 July 2008.
  7. ^ a b c d "Gulf War Chronology: Day 2". 25 September 2006. Archived from the original on 25 September 2006. Retrieved 3 December 2021.
  8. ^ a b c "The thrilling story of an F-14 Tomcat TARPS mission flown over Iraqi weapons of mass destruction plant of Al Qa'im during Operation Desert Storm (Captured in a Beautiful Artwork)". The Aviation Geek Club. 24 April 2021. Retrieved 3 December 2021.
  9. ^ a b Ribeiro, Marcelo (14 December 2020). "Gulf War: The Corsair's Last Hurrah". HistoryNet. Retrieved 3 December 2021.
  10. ^ "Tester Main Page". man.fas.org. Retrieved 3 December 2021.
  11. ^ "News Release". man.fas.org. Retrieved 3 December 2021.
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