07.12.

2016

MGM166LOSATWikipedia

MGM166LOSAT
FromWikipedia,thefreeencyclopedia

TheMGM166LOSAT(LineofSightAntiT
ank)wasaU.S.surfacetosurfacemissilesystemdesignedby
LockheedMartin(originallyV
ought)todefeattanksandotherindividualtar
gets.Insteadofusinga
HighExplosive
AntiTankwarheadlikeotherantitankmissiles,theLOSA
Temployedasolid
steelkineticenergypenetratortopunch
througharmor.TheLOSATisfairlylightitwasdesignedtobemountedontoa
Humveewhileallowingthevehicleto
remainairportable.LOSATeventuallyemer
gedonanextendedlengthheavydutyHumveewithahardtopcontaining
fourKEMsusedbyspecialoperations.AlthoughLOSA
Tnever"officially"enteredservice,itwasusedforthesmaller
[1]
CompactKineticEner
gyMissile.

Contents
1 History
1.1 HVM
1.2 AAWSH
1.3 Cancellation
2 Notes
3 Externallinks

History
HVM
LOSATdevelopedoutonanearlier
Voughtproject,theHVM.HVMwasamultiplatformweaponsupportedbythe
USAirForce,fortheirA10,andbytheUSArmyandUSMarineCorps,forhelicoptersandothervehicles.HVM
offeredperformancesimilartoexistingsystemslikethe
AGM114Hellfirebutofferedasemifireandfor
getoperation
throughtheuseof
FLIRtrackingandguidancecommandssenttoitviaalowpowerlaser
.Itcouldbecarriedonany
platformthathadFLIRsupport,withtheselfcontained
commandguidance
systemabletobecarriedexternally
,or
potentiallyintegratedintoexistingtar
getdesignators.Withtheendofthe
ColdWar,theAirForcepulledoutofthe
project,anddevelopmentworkonHVMappearstohaveendedinthelate1980s.

AAWSH

Ataboutthesametime,in1988,theArmyreleasedanewrequirementforagroundbasedantitanksystem,knownas
AdvancedAntiTankWeaponSystemHeavy,orAAWSHforshort.[2]AAWSHspecifiedanairliftable
lightweightsystemwiththecapabilitytoknockoutanyexistingornear
futuretankoutsideitsowngunrange.The
TOWmissilecouldbeguidedfromconcealedlocations,butdidnotof
fertheneededrangeanditsrelativelyslowflight
speeds(~250m/sversus1650forHVM)leftitvulnerablewhilethemissilewasinflight.

TofillAA
WSH,Voughtdevelopedaslightlylar
gerextendedrangeversionofHVMknownas
KEM(KineticEnergy
Missile),whiletheirpartner
,TexasInstruments,providedanewFLIRtargetingsystemthattheywerealreadyworking
onasaTOWupgrade.Severalvehicleswerestudiedtomountthesystem,includingthefrontrunner
M2Bradley,[3]as
wellastheM8ArmoredGunSystem
.[4]However,inordertoreducecostsandimproveairmobilityinapostCold
Warworld,LOSATeventuallyemer
gedonanextendedlengthheavydutyHumveewithahardtopcontainingfour
KEMsreadytofire,alongwithatrailercontaininganothereightroundsintworoundpacks.Thenewguidancesystem
couldkeeptwomissilesinflighttoseparatetar
gets,allowingthevehicletosalvofireitsweaponsagainstatank

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/MGM166_LOSA
T

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MGM166LOSATWikipedia

[2]Reachingspeedsof5,000ft/s,LOSA
squadroninafewseconds.
Twasintheairfromlaunchtomaximumrangefor
underfourseconds,makingcounterfireextremelydif
ficult.Therangewasbeyondthatofexistingmaintankguns,
allowingtheLOSA
Ttofireandmovebeforetankscouldmaneuverintoapositiontoreturnfire.

ThefirstKEMsweretestfiredin1990,andacontractforcontinueddevelopmentwasplacedbytheArmy
.Thiswas
muchslowerinpace,anditwasonlyin1997thatanAdvancedT
echnologyConceptDemonstratorprogramstartedto
bringthesystemtoproductionquality
.Thecontractcalledfor12LOSA
Tvehiclesand144KEMs,tobedeliveredby
2003.Evenbeforethiscontractwascomplete,theArmyaskedforaproductionrunofanother108missilesinAugust
2002.[1]Thefirstofthe12LOSA
TunitswasdeliveredinOctober2002,andthesystembeganaseriesof18
productionqualificationtestfiringsinAugust2003,atWhiteSandsMissileRangeinNewMexico.ByMarch2004,1
KEMshadbeenfiredattargetsunderavarietyofconditions,bothduringthedayandnight.Another8werefiredinthe
summerof2004atFortBlissaspartofausertestingexercise.

Cancellation
BythetimethetestprogramwasfinisheditwasobvioustheArmywasgoingtocancelLOSA
Tafterthelowrateinitial
[2]
production(LRIP)batchofabout435missileswasdelivered.
BythispointtheArmyhadalreadystartedworkona
systemknownastheCompactKineticEner
gyMissile(orCKEM),basedontheLOSATconceptsbutsmallerand
lighter,moreintunewithrealworldthreats.Asitturnedout,eventheLRIPcontractwasneverfunded,andthe
LOSATprogramterminated.

Notes
1.LOSATLINEOFSIGHTANTITANKWEAPONHIGHMOBILITYMUL
TIPURPOSEWHEELEDVEHICLE,USA
(http://www.armytechnology.com/projects/losat/)
2.LockheedMartinMGM166LOSA
T/KEMDesignationSystems(http://www.designationsystems.net/dusrm/m166.h
tml)
3.LIGHTANDLETHAL:LineofSight,AntiT
ank(LOSAT)(http://www.military.com/soldiertech/0,14632,Soldiertech_L
OSAT,,00.html)
4.M8ArmoredGunSystem(http://www.globalsecurity.org/military/systems/ground/m8ags.htm)

Externallinks
GlobalsecurityarticleontheLOSA
T(http://www.globalsecurity
.org/military/systems/ground/losat.htm)
VideoofLOSATinaction(http://www.wsmrhistory.org/LOSAT2.mpeg)
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T&oldid=614356441"
Categories: AntitankmissilesoftheUnitedStates
AbandonedmilitaryrocketandmissileprojectsoftheUnitedStates
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T

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