Historical Essay © Andreas Parsch

ONR/Titan Affordable Weapon

In May 2002, Titan Corporation received a contract from the U.S. Navy's ONR (Office of Naval Research) to continue the development of ONR's so-called Affordable Weapon concept, a multi-purpose cruise missile using available off-the-shelf components for a significant reduction of development and production costs. Titan produced parachute-recoverable test articles of the Affordable Weapon, which were successfully tested in six flights during late 2002.

The Affordable Weapon is launched from its shipping container by a solid-propellant rocket booster, and powered in flight by a small turbojet engine. After launch, the booster is dropped and the missile's wings and tailfins are deployed. Using a GPS navigation system, the missile can autonomously fly to a predetermined target, and in-flight retargeting is possible using line-of-sight or satellite-based data links. Alternatively, the weapon can loiter over a general target area until an observer directs it to a specific location. The Affordable Weapon has a range of about 1100 km (600 nm), and payload options include several types of warhead and surveillance packages with a weight of up to 90 kg (200 lb).

The Affordable Weapon is now ready for prototype construction of the tactical missile, which will be slightly modified for increased payload weight and range. It is planned to produce about 100 missiles to support a test program from September 2003 to April 2004. If built in quantity, the Affordable Weapon could supplement the more sophisticated, but also much more expensive, RGM/UGM-109 Tomahawk cruise missiles in U.S. Navy service. The missile will be initially developed for sea-launch, but ground- or air-launched variants are also possible.

No information on the exact physical characteristics of the Affordable Weapon is available.

[1] Titan Corp. Website
[2] Affordable Weapons for the War against Terror, ONR press release, 10 December 2002
[3] GlobalSecurity.org Website

Manufacturer: ONR-Titan. Maximum range: 1,100 km (600 mi).