Conventionally Armed Stand Off Missile (CASOM)
The requirement for Conventionally Armed Stand-Off Missile (CASOM) arose in essence from lessons derived from the Gulf War. During the 1980s, RAF doctrine centred on preparation for war with the Soviet Union involving, firstly, the air defence of the UK over the North Sea, and secondly, a low-level counter air offensive chiefly against Warsaw Pact airfields. Using the technology of the time, the MOD developed the JP233 for the latter role, a weapon which had to be released over the target, making the attacking aircraft vulnerable to air defences concentrated around it.
During the Gulf War, the RAF applied its low-level attack tactics against Iraqi airbases, despite the bewilderment of US military leaders who were unwilling to expose their aircraft and aircrews to similar risks. The British tactic has subsequently been much criticized. Whatever their effectiveness, the RAF suffered the highest percentage casualties of any allied air force in the conflict, losing a total of eight aircraft. During the campaign, the RAF switched to less costly medium altitude attacks using stand-off weapons. Again during Operation Deliberate Force, the NATO air offensive against the Bosnian Serb Army in August/September 1995, the RAF used stand-off tactics.
Stand-off tactics involve the use of a laser target designator aircraft accompanied with other planes carrying laser-guided bombs. In 1994, the RAF ordered new Paveway II laser-guided bombs which have recently been delivered. However, CASOM is intended to move the attacking aircraft even further from the objective. A missile fired from 200km away is preprogrammed to strike an important target. This reduces the vulnerability of the attacking aircraft. As successive generations of aircraft have become more expensive, air forces have become smaller and there is a growing premium on protecting aircraft. There is a new imperative to use them as platforms from which to launch weapons. The unit production cost of each Eurofighter 2000 is now estimated to be over £38m. By contrast each CASOM, which would be used on a selective basis, could cost about £600,000. The RAF may order 1,000 missiles with some £200m being spent on placing the system on fighter aircraft. CASOM will enter service in 2001 and will equip Tornado GR4s, Harrier GR7s and then EF2000 as it comes into service.
The result of the competition for the CASOM was announced in July 1996. Originally, there had been seven contenders for this £750-£800m contract. Three contenders were predominantly American. The US company Hughes, teamed with Smith Industries of the UK, offered the Airhawk, an air-launched variant of the Tomahawk cruise missile. This was originally a ship- or submarine-launched weapon which was used during the Gulf War and also in air strikes against Bosnian Serb targets last year and against Iraq over the summer. It has recently been procured for installation in Royal Navy submarines. However, it was also believed to be one of the more expensive options.
McDonnell Douglas put forward a variant of its Harpoon missile, called Grand Slam, in partnership with the UK companies GEC, Hunting and Lucas. Harpoon was another sealaunched missile and is already fitted to RN submarines. Finally Texas Instruments proffered the Joint Stand Off Weapon or Griffin with some involvement of Shorts of Belfast. There were three European contenders: the British Aerospace Dynamics with Storm Shadow (based on the French Matra Apache missile); an advanced variant of the all British GEC-Marconi Pegasus; and the German Daimler Benz-Swedish Bofors KEPD 350 or Taurus. The latter consortium also included some UK participation. Finally, the Israeli company Rafael was allowed to bid its domestically-designed Popeye missile.
Of all the contenders, only BAe and DASA/Bofors were asked to clarify their bids. The winning consortium was BAe with the Storm Shadow, although a contract and the exact price are still "subject to the negotiation of satisfactory terms". The Storm Shadow will be built in the UK but development and production can be combined with French Apache manufacture, authorized in July. Full value offsets for any work placed abroad have been obtained. 1,600 jobs will be sustained as a consequence of the order.
Of the three RAF weapons projects considered in July, CASOM was politically the most significant. Whilst most CASOM bids apparently offered similar military capabilities, each contender met different politico-economic criteria. Although it is suggested that the German- Swedish KEPD-350 was preferred on purely military grounds, this consortium lacked a large UK industrial participant and was weak politically. The leading European contender, the Storm Shadow, matched most closely the government's desire to promote European defence industrial cooperation. It helped to secure the as yet unconsummated marriage of the BAe Dynamics and Matra missile businesses, part of a consolidation of European defence industry which is regarded by many as overdue in order to compete with the big US battalions.
Given the apparent damage that previous large British defence orders from the USA have done to Franco-German aspirations for closer European defence procurement co-operation, a Storm Shadow order could act as a counterbalance. As the MOD stated, the contract "will strengthen British Aerospace's ability to play a leading role in a restructured European industry". The order may also help smooth British membership of the European (currently Franco-German) Armaments Agency which in principle it has agreed to join as well as increasing commonality in European defence equipment.
The extent of the European imperative behind the Storm Shadow contract may be indicated by failed US attempts at lobbying for the order. The US missiles offered the possibility of winning a US government order for a CASOM equivalent which might be ten times as large as the MOD contract and would thus secure huge subcontracting orders for a partnering UK company. McDonnell Douglas allegedly wrote to the MOD confirming that it had been awarded the US DoD contract to develop a US CASOM. It was thus been able to cut the price of its tender, suggesting that Storm Shadow may not have been the cheapest option.
|
NEWSLETTER
|
| Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list |
|
|
|
