The U.S. Navy's Standoff Land Attack Missile - Expanded Response (SLAM-ER) program recently conducted three successful missile launches from two different aircraft platforms. The exercises were conducted at the Naval Air Systems Command, Weapons Division Sea Test Range in California.

The first event was a Fleet training mission in which an F/A-18 aircraft and crew from Carrier Air Wing Nine launched the missile more than 40 miles from the target. After launch from one F/A-18, the missile was controlled to a direct hit by a second F/A-18. The target for this training exercise was a simulated SA-10 radar on the test range. This evolution was the culmination of an intensive training effort by airwing personnel prior to their upcoming deployment.

The second event was a test firing conducted from an S-3 Viking. The S-3 is equipped for many missions, including day/night surveillance, electronic countermeasures, command/control/communications warfare, and search and rescue. This marks the first time SLAM-ER has been launched and controlled from this aircraft. SLAM-ER Automatic Target Acquisition (ATA) was also utilized to provide cueing to assist with target identification. As with the previous launch, this firing scored a direct hit on the target, a simulated mobile surface-to-air missile launcher.

A third SLAM-ER launch was conducted from an F/A-18 marking the end of combined developmental and operational testing for the ATA capability. This test was also conducted from the west coast test range. As with the previous launch, the ATA system successfully cued the aircrew to target location resulting in a direct hit.

The ATA system adds a small, internal hardware module to the missile as well as missile and mission planning software modifications. ATA provides the control operator with real-time target cueing on the cockpit display, aiding the operator in finding the desired target and aimpoint in cluttered scenes. The Navy is scheduled to authorize fleet use of the ATA features of SLAM-ER in 2002 following successful completion of all testing requirements

The SLAM-ER program is managed by the Program Executive Office for Strike Weapons and Unmanned Aviation (PEO (W)). To learn more about PEO (W), log on to the website at www.strikenet.js.mil