Boeing SLAM ER Modified to Engage Moving Targets on Land

ST. LOUIS.- Boeing [NYSE: BA] has modified the Standoff Land Attack Missile Expanded Response (SLAM ER) to engage land-based moving targets (LMT). The U.S. Navy declared the missile system, with its enhanced targeting software, operationally effective against LMTs on July 2 following a successful Operational Evaluation.

“Upgrading SLAM ER with the land-based moving target function adds a key capability to the warfighter’s arsenal,” said Steve Morrow, Boeing director of Naval Weapon Programs. “We look forward to helping the Navy train the fleet to use this new capability.”

Upgrading the SLAM ER’s system software to include LMT capabilities was a Navy Rapid Technology Transition effort to fill a critical need by making SLAM ER an effective weapon for destroying or disabling high-value land-based moving targets, such as missile launchers and mobile radar. The software enables F/A-18 Hornet and Super Hornet aircraft to continuously receive updated target coordinates from appropriate Command and Control platforms, on-ship radar, or other third-party targeting sources, and then transfer these updates to the SLAM ER in flight.

A four-part series of developmental and operational flight tests demonstrated the system’s network-centric ability to use third-party targeting. During its final test flight in January, SLAM ER scored a direct hit against a remote-controlled, land-based moving target. Previous test flights included an operational test launch, also in January, and engagement with remote-controlled mobile targets in 2006.

SLAM ER is a highly adaptable day/night, all-weather, over-the-horizon precision strike missile capable of hitting stationary or moving targets on land or at sea and can be launched from safe standoff ranges of more than 150 nautical miles. It is a Navy weapon of choice for surgical strikes against high-value land targets and ships in port and at sea. The missile’s “man-in-the-loop” mode allows the pilot to precisely update the target impact point during the missile’s final moments of flight.

A unit of The Boeing Company, Boeing Integrated Defense Systems is one of the world’s largest space and defense businesses specializing in innovative and capabilities-driven customer solutions, and the world’s largest and most versatile manufacturer of military aircraft. Headquartered in St. Louis, Boeing Integrated Defense Systems is a $32 billion business with 70,000 employees worldwide.