ARLINGTON, Va., May 13 (UPI) -- The U.S. Navy's Office of Naval Research has unveiled a new Low-Cost Imaging Terminal Seeker for helicopters protecting fleet ships.
The Navy said disclosure of the system was made this week at the 63rd annual Naval Helicopter Association Symposium in San Diego.
Lt. Col. Raymond Schreiner, a developmental test pilot assigned to China Lake's Naval Air Warfare Center's Weapons Division in California, said the technology will give helicopters such as the MH-60 and the AH-1 Cobra a newfound tactical advantage, allowing helicopter aircraft commanders to "take the fight away from the boat."
The LCITS system essentially offers a "fire-and-forget" capability, enabling pilots to designate a target, fire a rocket and move on to the next threat.
That ability relieves the pilot of the responsibility of guiding the weapon to the target during the time of flight, as is the case with laser-designated weapons.
The LCITS system comprises three main components: the algorithms that calculate targeting and transfer alignment data; a digital smart launcher; and the prototype LCITS weapon.
The system is a collaborative effort among several partners, including South Korea; the U.S. Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency; the Office of the U.S. Secretary of Defense; and the Navy International Program Office, all of which helped advance its optical sensors and infrared-seeker technologies.
"The LCITS program is a wonderful example of how investments in multiple technologies can come together and produce a new capability for the naval warfighter," said Michael Deitchman, director of ONR's Naval Air Warfare and Weapons Department.
Deitchman praised the LCITS system's ability to accomplish the mission with little to no support.
"The LCITS program is considered low cost because it is an augmentation, or upgrade, to a pre-existing 2.75-inch rocket system," he said. "Instead of relying on costly parts, sensors and guidance systems, it relies on the aircraft systems to provide the targeting information."
ONR said LCITS is undergoing additional testing as part of the Medusa Joint Capability Technology Demonstration to integrate the rocket onto the MH-60 aircraft platform.
