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Avalon Airshow 2009 - DAGR to make debut helicopter launch
Lockheed Martin Missiles and Fire Control says it expects to fly its Directional Attack Guided Rocket (DAGR) off a helicopter for the first time during the current northern hemisphere spring.
Joe Elmer, Lockheed manager of international business development for rotary wing sensors and missiles, says “we will fly this spring”.
Speaking at the Australian international air show 11 March, Elmer said that “one thing we haven’t done yet is fire this off an airborne platform. We have got several potential opportunities to do that.”
Previous DAGR flight testing has been carried out at Eglin air force base using ground launchers.
“We are pursuing plans to fly from an aircraft, to do an air launched demonstration this spring.”
Elmer also confirmed Lockheed is proposing DAGR to the Australian Army as a low cost alternative to Hellfire II aboard its Eurocopter Tiger armed reconnaissance helicopters and as a potential weapon fit for the Royal Australian Navy’s proposed Air 9000 phase 8 new multirole maritime helicopter requirement.
“Because Hellfire has already been adapted for the Tiger armed reconnaissance helicopter programme, and Hellfire is already part of the MH-60 offering, we are thinking DAGR”. Lockheed Martin is planning to bid the Sikorsky MH-60R for the Air 9000 phase 8 requirement.
Elmer said DAGR would offer the Australian Army increased weapon load outs aboard Tiger, with the weapon offering similar range, reduced collateral damage because of a smaller warhead and lower unit costs. “It is a cheaper round so you get all those benefits by going to a DAGR. It is a still a pretty lethal round, including in the surface sense – especially against small boat targets.”
By Peter La Franchi, Avalon
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