Anna Forrester
BAE Systems is looking to secure a potential contract with the U.S. Army to equip the service’s fleet of Boeing‘s AH-64 Apache helicopters with the Advanced Precision Kill Weapon System, USNI News reported Monday.
David Harrold, director of precision guidance solutions at BAE Systems, told the publication that a business opportunity could arise following live-fire flight tests on APKWS using the Australian army’s fleet of Airbus Tiger Armed Reconnaissance Helicopters.
Megan Eckstein writes that the company performed flight tests in November following ground-based testing in August.
Harrold noted that the tests used a Forges de Zeebrugge rocket motor and different warheads, launchers and platforms to indicate flexibility and adaptability of use.
BAE Systems has already tested APKWS with the U.S. Air Force, Navy and Marine Corps using platforms such as Sikorsky‘s MH-60R, Bell Helicopter‘s UH/AH-1, Lockheed Martin‘s F-16 and Northrop Grumman‘s MQ-8 Fire Scout, Eckstein reports.
The report said that the APKWS guidance system works to provide laser-designation functionality for unguided missiles.
