Boeing

The U.S. Navy has awarded Boeing a $36.4 million contract for the fiscal year 2001 production of the Standoff Land Attack Missile - Expanded Response, or SLAM-ER.

An affordable inventory upgrade, SLAM-ER incorporates a number of improvements to the baseline SLAM, a derivative of the Harpoon anti-ship missile.

These retrofit upgrades include planar wings to improve range and aerodynamic performance; an improved warhead to increase penetration and lethality against hardened targets; and software improvements that make it easier for the control aircraft to designate track on the target aimpoint.

This most recent award means that Boeing is under contract with the U.S. Navy to produce 346 SLAM-ERs, with production expected to continue beyond 2004. Approximately 700 SLAM missiles in the U.S. Navy arsenal will be retrofitted with the SLAM-ER upgrade.

SLAM-ER provides the U.S. Navy with surgical strike capability against high-value, fixed land targets, ships in port or ships at sea. Designed for deployment from carrier-based and land-based aircraft, SLAM-ER can easily be adapted for ship launch. SLAM-ER can be launched from safe standoff ranges of more than 150 nautical miles.

Boeing produces the SLAM-ER in St. Charles, Mo.

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