Biscarrosse AASM Undergoes second qualification test by French DGA
The General Delegation for Armaments (DGA) has successfully completed on June 12, 2008 at its test centre of launch of missile Biscarrosse. The second qualification round of Armament air-ground modular (AASM) version with infrared terminal guidance. The AASM was fired from a Mirage 2000 from the centre of flight tests of the DGA in Cazaux.
This “one-meter class” AASM version features An inertial/GPS guidance system identical to that of the qualified “ten-meter class” version, already in operational service and an infrared imager that automatically identifies the target several seconds before impact and corrects the trajectory.
For the second qualification round, the GPS of the AASM was inhibited, in order to demonstrate the capability of the weapon to achieve a goal with a precision metric without the input of the GPS location. This capability is indispensable in cases where the coordinates of the target are unclear, or when severe operational conditions prohibit the use of GPS. The final firing test was carried out at very low altitude from a range of 16 km. The coordinates transmitted to the AASM prior to release had been shifted by 80 meters. In other words, this firing test was designed to prove that the infrared terminal guidance AASM could locate and strike its target to within 1 meter, in an area with few landmarks that would allow correcting the target trajectory.
After the first launch carried out on April 23, 2008 at a distance of 50 km, this new success is a major step towards the qualification of the “INS / GPS + IR” of the AASM, whose campaign to be completed in the summer.
The “ten-meter class” AASM is in service in the French air force and has been successfully used several times by Rafale fighter planes in Afghanistan.
The DGA has entrusted the implementation of the AASM to Sagem. The AASM is made up of a guidance kit and a kit of increasing scope that provide unprecedented operational capabilities of the body of bombs commonly used in the forces.
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