TUCSON, April 18 (UPI) -- Raytheon in Arizona says a new warhead has reduced the size of its Small Tactical Munition for use by unmanned aircraft systems.
The STM is a 13-pound, guided munition that is about 2 feet long, making it the smallest air-launched weapon in the Raytheon portfolio.
The new 5-pound warhead, manufactured by Nammo Talley of Arizona, is lighter than the current warhead but has significantly improved blast-fragment capability compared with the previous design.
"The low weight and small size of STM enables UAS to fly farther, faster and carry more weapons then they could if they were limited to carrying a single 100-pound class weapon," said Bob Francois, Raytheon vice president of Advanced Missiles and Unmanned Systems. "STM's small size also enables weaponization of smaller UAS, such as the Shadow 200, that currently cannot be weaponized because of payload limitations."
STM is part of a portfolio of Raytheon weapons built specifically for UAS. Like the other weapons in the portfolio, STM is easy to use because it's designed for rapid integration and engineered for improved operator system interface.
"Nammo Talley's new warhead is purpose-built for Raytheon's STM and the associated target set encountered in warfare today," John Hill, vice president of Nammo's business development and program management said. "This design packs the same 'punch' into a smaller package and is optimally designed for this target set."
