Hammer guidance kit on target

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PARIS, July 16 (UPI) -- The laser terminal guidance version of French company Sagem's air-to-ground Hammer weapon system has completed its first qualification firing test.

The Hammer air-to-ground modular weapon is comprised of various guidance and range-extension kits attached to a dumb bomb.

In the test, a Hammer weapon was dropped from a Rafale fighter. Its target was a bridge 31 miles distant, which was illuminated by an airborne illuminator in last few seconds of the bomb's flight, Sagem said.

"The AASM Hammer's guidance was deliberately initialized by offsetting the target's GPS coordinates by over 164 feet," Sagem said. "Thanks to its navigation, laser spot detection and terminal guidance algorithms, the AASM hit its target to within 3 feet."

The weapon was developed under a contract from the French defense procurement agency DGA.

Two other guidance versions of the weapon have already been qualified for deployment on Rafale fighters and delivery of the units is to begin this year.