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From: dnwiebe@cis.ohio-state.edu (Dan N Wiebe)
Newsgroups: sci.military
Subject: Re: Why no Hellfire on fixed-wing attack aircraft?
Message-ID: <1991Feb7.021455.4993@cbnews.att.com>
Date: 7 Feb 91 02:14:55 GMT
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Organization: AT&T Bell Laboratories
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From: dnwiebe@cis.ohio-state.edu (Dan N Wiebe)


I wrote:
>>      Given that LGBs are dropped from fixed-wing aircraft, how come
>>the A-10, for example, isn't fitted with a laser designator and cleared
>>to launch Hellfire instead of Maverick?  Wouldn't it be cheaper?

In response, Boyd Roberts wrote:
>It may be cheaper, but if I were driving an A-10 I'd go for the Maverick.
>It's fire and forget so there's no need to loiter to designate the target.

        I understand the advantages of a launch-and-leave weapon; however,
according to material I've read by Bill Gunston and Mike Spick, it's not
an instantaneous process to launch Maverick in self-guiding mode.  They
say that the TV guidance can take as long as 4-8 seconds of steady flying
to lock onto a target before launch.  Surely that's at least comparable
to the flight time of Hellfire at short range.  (Remember, you can designate
Hellfire *after* launch, during the terminal stage of its flight.)  Or
have they come up with a more modern version of Maverick since my book
was written?  (Dono exactly when that was, but the latest hardware in it is
the B-1B.)
        Another question.  (If the answer is classified, just smack me
a couple of times; I'll get the message eventually.)  Just how does the
TV-guidance system of Maverick work?  I've read material that claims it
uses a pattern-recognition algorithm on picture contrast--in other words,
image processing done on a 2D picture.  How, then, does it recognize things
like tanks that move past landmarks and change aspect?  How does it allow
for changes in the picture due to the missile's movement that transcend
what can be allowed for by simple 2D demagnification (flying past a wall,
for example, so that a big constant-contrast area of the picture is suddenly
replaced by a more-complex scene)?
        Finally.  I've heard conflicting reports from various sources as to
how TOW works.  This is the most credible:  the operator peers through
a viewfinder at the target, centers a pair of crosshairs on it, and launches.
The guidance computer also looks through the viewfinder and sees the IR
signature of the missiles exhaust, and notices that it doesn't fall precisely
at the intersection of the crosshairs, and so sends steering commands down
the trailing wire to the missile to bring it back into the crosshairs.  It's
the operator's responsibility to keep the crosshairs on the target until the
missile hits.  Is that about right?  (Don't respond if you're not sure.)
        What kind of wire is this?  How thick is it?  How many conductors?
If the missile's range is measured in miles, how much does miles of the wire
(for each missile) weigh?  After the missile has been launched, I assume the
wire is just cut and left on the ground.  Does this frequently get caught
up in tank treads or jeep wheels or helicopter skids or whatever and cause
problems?  What does the missile do if the wire breaks during flight?
        Just curious...

Shalom,
Dan Wiebe
dnw@rsch.oclc.org