One of the few technologies to survive cancellation of the Army's multi-billion dollar contacting fiasco known as FCS is the Non Line-of-Sight Launch System's (NLOS-LS) Precision Attack Missile. Only it turns out the NLOS missile isn't so precise. In recent tests out at White Sands, New Mexico, the missile failed to hit its target four out of six times, Defense News' Kate Brannen reports. Not only did it miss, but it missed by a lot:
"Test missiles failed to hit a moving tank 20 kilometers away, a moving infantry vehicle 10 kilometers away, a stationary tank 30 kilometers away, and a stationary truck 35 kilometers away. It missed the infantry vehicle by 20 meters, and the truck by 25 kilometers."
The only two hits came when the missile used its laser designator instead of the errant infrared seeker. The story says the Army is looking at scaling back its buy of the NLOS missiles that cost $466,000 apiece in favor of a cheaper alternative.
-- Greg
