http://www.boeing.com/news/releases/2000/news_release_000202n.htm




ST. LOUIS, Feb. 2, 2000.U.S. Navy Conducts Live Warhead Firing of Boeing SLAM ER 

 

The U.S. Navy recently launched a Boeing Standoff Land Attack Missile 
Expanded Response (SLAM ER) against the decommissioned cruiser USS Dale 
CG-19 at an offshore test range near Puerto Rico. The mission was designed 
to validate missile guidance and warhead effectiveness against a surface 
target under operational conditions. 

"We chose the SLAM ER because of the missile's ability to precisely hit a 
pre-determined spot on the ship," said Capt. A.J. Benn, U.S. Navy SLAM ER 
program manager. 

The SLAM ER was successfully launched from a U.S. Navy F/A-18 Hornet that 
was located more than 40 nautical miles away. The missile received several 
in-flight target position updates en route to the USS Dale. In-flight target 
position updates, which are unique to the SLAM ER weapon system, are designed 
to update the missile's flight path with current target coordinates enabling 
the SLAM ER to engage moving targets. 

During the last moments of flight, the SLAM ER transmitted infrared imagery of 
the USS Dale to the pilot, who then identified the USS Dale and commanded missile 
lock-on from a safe standoff range. 

The SLAM ER uses a 500 pound derivative of the Tomahawk Block III warhead 
developed by the Naval Air Warfare Center Weapons Division, China Lake, Calif. 
The missile's titanium WDU-40/B warhead is shaped specifically to increase 
penetration and becomes reactive during detonation, substantially increasing the 
blast and incendiary effects. SLAM ER's warhead exceeded expectations. 

SLAM ER's anti-ship performance is critical to achieving dominant control in the 
littorals. The littoral, defined as the waterways 100 miles off the coastline and 
50 miles inland, is one of the U.S. Navy's most complex and challenging environments 
in which to operate effectively. Future joint military operations are based on the 
U.S. Navy's fundamental and dominant control of the littorals, which are typified 
by areas of heavily trafficked commercial sea-lanes, shallow depths and irregular 
landmasses such as inlets, rivers, islands and harbors. Dominance of this area is 
essential to providing protected access to the theater for arriving forces, seizing 
or establishing shore bases and providing command and control for immediate operat-
ions. 

SLAM ER, the U.S. Navy's premier multi-mission standoff weapon, achieved an early 
operational capability in the summer of 1999 and is deployed on several aircraft 
carriers. 

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00-06

Contact: Patricia Frost
(314) 234-6996
 

                     
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