SCALPEL
SCALPEL (Small Contained-Area Laser Precision Energetic Load) is a laser-guided bomb produced by Lockheed Martin. The weapon is being developed from the Enhanced Laser Guided Training Round (E-LGTR) which is the training version of the Paveway II series of bombs. The rationale behind the system is to provide a light, low-collateral damage weapon which can utilise the infrastructure and platform integration already in place for the E-LGTR system. On 14 March 2010, the US Navy announced its intention to purchase Scalpel.[1] The Navy completed some integration work in 2011 and the weapon was still self-funded as of 2016, but Scalpel could be ready for operations in "a year or two" depending if a launch customer commits extra funding and test range support.[2] The Scalpel Plus version has a dual-mode SAL/GPS guidance system.[3]
Specifications
[edit | edit source]- Weight: 100 lbs (45.3 kg)
- Length: 75 in (1905 mm)
- Diameter: 4 in (102 mm)
- Guidance: Semi-active laser homing.
Program status
[edit | edit source]- May 2008 – Three inert weapons successfully carried and released by AV-8B Harriers.[4]
See also
[edit | edit source]References
[edit | edit source]- ^ Lua error in Module:Citation/CS1/Configuration at line 2172: attempt to index field '?' (a nil value).
- ^ Lockheed advancing Dual Mode Plus and Scalpel bombs – Flightglobal.com, 29 March 2016
- ^ Lockheed developing GPS and laser-guided Scalpel – Flightglobal.com, 27 September 2016
- ^ Lua error in Module:Citation/CS1/Configuration at line 2172: attempt to index field '?' (a nil value).
External links
[edit | edit source]- SCALPEL | Lockheed Martin Archived 15 February 2015 at the Wayback Machine
- Another Hundred Pound Wonder Weapon – Strategy Page
