U.S. Navy helicopters getting infrared-seeking rockets

U.S. Navy helicopters getting infrared-seeking rockets

U.S. Navy announced it is upgrading its 2.75-inch Hydra-70 helicopter-borne rockets with Low-Cost Imaging Terminal Seeker (LCITS) guidance sections that use infrared homing to make stopping attacks by small boat swarms as easy as “fire and forget.”

Unlike laser-guidance technology, which require an operator to monitor targets visually until hit, LCITS, developed by the Office of Naval Research (ONR), measures an intended target’s infrared spectrum electromagnetic radiation and continues to compute and home in on it, closing in for the kill, the Navy announced.

Recent testing demonstrated the weapon’s efficiency: Two LCTIS-equipped Hydra-70 rockets fired from shore flew by inertial guidance to the distance where the infrared terminal guidance took over, identified targets and adjusted their trajectories to destroy two out of five rapidly maneuvering boats.

ONR program officer for the LCITS Ken Heeke stated,

“It’s a fire-and-forget weapon. No longer do you have to continue to monitor the target after you’ve fired the weapon. You can move on to the next threat with the assurance that the rocket will hit the target.”

The LCITS seeker has three subsystems, ScienceDaily reported: the guided imaging section on the rocket, the helicopter-borne targeting integration system and the digital smart launcher; information about the target’s position and movement transfers from the targeting system to the rocket launcher and LCTIS guides the weapon the final distance to the target.

U.S. Navy helicopters getting infrared-seeking rockets