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| A French AF Rafale C launches a Sagem-designed AASM 250 kg rocket-bomb during live tests of this new precision guided weapon conducted from Cazaux AB near the Atlantic Ocean © H.-P. Grolleau for Sagem Sécurité Défense |
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| A trio of standard AASM precision guided stand off bombs hung under the wing of a French AF Rafale B fighter-bomber © Sagem |
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French new tactical wonder weapon makes bingo
By Jean-Michel Guhl
in Paris, France
The information has just been released one month after, but on last April 23, the French defense procurement agency (DGA) carried out the first successful complete live firing test of the AASM modular air-to-ground weapon using a French Air Force Rafale C fighter-bomber for the first time. It is said in French Air Force circles that this live test was delayed for a while after flutter problems were encountered with the Rafaut AT 730 "tri-bombe" pylon during separation, the habitual sort of teething problems which were cured after close scrutiny of AASM drop videos and which had also occurred last winter during the cash-test programme of the US-designed GBU-22 Paveway III LGB bomb on the Rafale F2.
Conducted from the Cazaux CEAM test airfield south of Bordeaux, the mission involved several stand-off firings at separate targets – one of which was simply 90° off-boresight – plus a salvo of three AASMs. All targets were struck with the initially planned precision, with the Rafale’s Frontal Sector Optronics (OSF) allowing the pilot to observe the impacts in real time and submit later a video debrief of the firings.
The AASM is a new modular weapon developed by Sagem Défense Sécurité (SAFRAN Group). Singularly compact, it contains guidance and range enhancement kits that can be adapted to most of the NATO standard bomb bodies in service, providing increased range and high-precision strikes to the force commanders. So far bombs in the 125, 250 and 500 kg range can receive the "Deux ASM” guidance and propulsion kit.
The three AASM qualification firings previously carried out by a Mirage 2000N fighter-bomber demonstrated for the AASM a range over 50 km at high altitudes and 15 km in low level attack profiles, with high- speed impacts that surprisingly had better precision that required in the initial specifications. This qualifies the AASM as a real mid-range stand-off weapon capable of leaving its launch vector well off the range of current AAA and MANPADS.
This dense AASM Rafale firing campaign marks the first multi-target air-to-ground firing of its scope carried out anywhere in Europe. Reckonned to be unequalled worldwide for the time being, the AASM 'rocket-bomb' provides armed forces with new air-to-ground capabilities [Paris - 05-25-2007]
Sagem Défense Sécurité is a high-technology company in the SAFRAN Group. As a leading European defense and security electronics company, its business covers three main fields: navigation and aeronautics systems, where it is the world leader in helicopter flight control; optronics and air-land systems, where it is the European leader in surveillance and fire-control optronics; and the field of
security, where it is the world leader in fingerprint-based biometrics.
For further information: www.sagem-ds.com
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