News

Hunted becomes Hunter - Raytheon demos sub-launched Sidewinder

September 14, 2009

Raytheon has successfully fired an AIM-9X Sidewinder from a submarine.

Although the test is part of an ongoing effort to improve the flexibility of submarines, it marks a new chapter in the development of surface-to-air weapons for submarines, and could force anti-submarine helicopters to tread much more carefully in the future.

The AIM-9X, was fired from a submerged Tomahawk Capsule Launching System as part of the Littoral Warfare Weapon (LWW) program managed by the Department of the Navy's Program Executive Office of Submarines.

"The Littoral Warfare Weapon program will test and develop increased capabilities as the U.S. Navy continues to expand undersea warfare in the littoral arena," said Michael Del Checcolo, vice president of Engineering, Raytheon Integrated Defense Systems.

"This successful launch demonstrates a new degree of submarine self-defense capability against threats our warfighters may encounter from the air, land and sea."

There is a great deal of work taking place to deliver a surface-to-air missile capability.

Germany's Diehl-BGT is working on the Interactive Defence and Attack System for Submarines (IDAS) for its Type-212 diesel submarines, and fired directly from the torpedo tubes. It is understood that some Russian submarines may have carried a SAM system in the sail.

Nonetheless, the development of such new weapons puts extra demands on the helicopters and crews hunting them.