Whos gonna counter your rockets, artillery and mortars in the sky

AI3 is designed to protect warfighters by intercepting rockets and other threats in flight.

 

AI3 will enhance protection of warfighters from rockets, artillery, mortars, cruise missiles and unmanned aerial vehicles.

 

An AI3 interceptor missile is fired from an Avenger-based launcher in a recent test.

 

Raytheon designed the AI3 system to meet cost requirements to provide an affordable solution to the warfighter.

Experiments of Raytheon AI3 missile interception system successfully intercepts first cruise missile target

Raytheon Company and the U.S. Army achieved the first intercept of a cruise missile by the Accelerated Improved Intercept Initiative missile. An AI3 missile also destroyed an unmanned aerial system (UAS). Both intercepts occurred during the recent Black Dart demonstration - a U.S. military exercise held July 29 - August 11. 

 

Raytheon Company Accelerated Improved Intercept Initiative missile/AI3 missile for U. S. Army

Fired from the Avenger launcher, AI3 missiles intercepted both targets at low altitude over water and in a high-clutter marine environment - capabilities made possible by upgrades to the missile's semi-active seeker and radar. The ability to defeat UAS and cruise missile threats is the key requirement of the U.S. Army's Indirect Fire Protection Capability (IFPC) Block 1. IFPC is a mobile, ground-based weapon system designed to acquire, track, engage and defeat UAS, cruise missiles, rockets, artillery and mortars.

"Raytheon's AI3 missile is breaking new ground with its destruction of these challenging targets that are real threats to today's warfighter," said Dr. Thomas R. Bussing, Raytheon Advanced Missile Systems vice president. "We've developed a missile that integrates easily into the Army's existing systems. It's affordable, the risk is low and we can get it in the field soon."

Earlier this year, in preparation for the Black Dart event, AI3 missiles destroyed a 240 mm rocket and a UAS at Yuma Proving Ground, Arizona.

"Black Dart was the ideal venue for us to demonstrate AI3's expanded capabilities and to showcase the missile as a low-cost, complimentary interceptor for IFPC Block 1," added Bussing.

About AI3 In 2012-13, Raytheon developed and successfully tested a system, also called AI3, to counter rockets, artillery and mortars (C-RAM). The system included the AI3 missile as its centerpiece, plus fire control radar, command and control node and launcher. In Sept. 2013, the AI3 system destroyed 22 of 24 threats, including 107mm rocket targets at various quadrant elevations, as well as mortars, an unmanned aircraft system and improvised rocket-assisted mortars. Raytheon developed the AI3 system in just over 18 months to meet a Department of Defense urgent need, and demonstrated that it also meets IFPC Block 2 requirements for C-RAM.

About Raytheon Company, with 2013 sales of $24 billion and 63,000 employees worldwide, is a technology and innovation leader specializing in defense, security and civil markets throughout the world. With a history of innovation spanning 92 years, Raytheon provides state-of-the-art electronics, mission systems integration and other capabilities in the areas of sensing; effects; and command, control, communications and intelligence systems, as well as cyber security and a broad range of mission support services. Raytheon is headquartered in Waltham, Mass.

Raytheon Company Missile Systems Tucson, Ariz.

 

Source: Online Portal

Attack on Quetta Airbases

This is taken from The Express Tribune, August 16^th, 2014:

Lieutenant General Naseer Janjua showing weapons use by terrorists during attack on Khalid Base to Chief Minister Abdul Malik. PHOTO: ONLINE

So deep-rooted is the terrorist threat in our country that no one single action can demolish it. This was underscored by the attack that was carried out between the nights of August 14-15 on two airbases in Quetta by militants, armed with rockets, grenades and suicide vests. Rockets were fired at the Samungli and Khalid airbases, located within 12 kilometres of each other, as the militants, in what was quite evidently a carefully devised plan, fired rockets into them. Seven militants were killed, while seven security personnel were injured during the nine hours of fighting, led by the Anti-terrorism Force, to protect the bases. Quetta airport was also shut down. The attack, of course, follows a pattern we have seen before as other military installations and airports have come under attack by Taliban militants. 

 

COAS praises security forces for averting Quetta attack

While the security forces did well to prevent any actual penetration of the bases, the audacity and scale of the attack reminds us that the militants remain active and quite capable of striking, despite Operation Zarb-e-Azb. The military action in North Waziristan is obviously extremely significant, but on its own, it will not be enough to hold off the militants. We need to add more prongs to our strategy and use these collectively. This is especially true given that we face now a range of militant groups, who may — or may not — be operating under a single umbrella. In Balochistan, action against military targets inevitably leads to suspicions regarding the role of separtist groups. In the past, analysts have also warned of the danger of a nexus between them and Taliban-affiliated groups. The complexities of militancy in our country are many. The latest acts of violence in Quetta shows we are still a long way off from overcoming this menace. We need to think harder about how this can be achieved. Right now, terrorists have shown that they can strike in many places. Yes, security at key places has been tightened, but it is also imperative that militant outfits be defeated, so that our lives can return to something resembling normalcy without the sense of constant fear we currently confront.