L3Harris Technologies’ Vehicle Agnostic Modular Palletized ISR Rocket Equipment (VAMPIRE™) multi-purpose weapons systems are having an immediate impact in Ukraine’s wartime efforts. VAMPIRE enables Ukrainian ground forces to target and destroy enemy drones and defend against adversary ground threats. L3Harris designed the system to deliver advanced reconnaissance and precision strike capabilities to protect Ukrainian civilian infrastructure from enemy attacks. L3Harris completed installation and delivery of all systems, in support of Ukrainian defense efforts, on time to U.S. Department of Defense.
“Early customer reports say VAMPIRE is already having a positive effect in Ukraine thanks to the U.S. Navy’s ability to respond with ‘unprecedented speed and agility. As adversary tactics evolve, our customers rely on us to anticipate, design and rapidly deliver reliable mission capabilities. We’ll continue partnering with the Department of Defense to field critical capabilities that will help save lives,” said Jason Lambert, President, Intelligence, Surveillance and Reconnaissance, L3Harris.
VAMPIRE’s mission management system integrates an advanced company WESCAM MX™-10 RSTA targeting sensor with its weapons station, allowing an operator to engage targets quickly and accurately. It combines affordability with accuracy from the Advanced Precision Kill Weapons System rocket, selected specifically for use in Ukraine, which will incorporate L3Harris’ proximity fuze for increased system lethality for engaging ground and aerial targets. The company began field testing in 2021 and continued range and durability tests in summer 2022. The portable VAMPIRE kit will allow Ukraine ground forces to target and shoot down enemy drones and defend against adversary ground threats.
The AGR-20 Advanced Precision Kill Weapon System (APKWS) is a design conversion of Hydra 70 unguided rockets with a laser guidance kit to turn them into precision-guided munitions (PGMs). APKWS is approximately one-third the cost and one-third the weight of the current inventory of laser-guided weapons have a lower yield more suitable for avoiding collateral damage and takes one-quarter of the time for ordnance personnel to load and unload. The APKWS II uses the Distributed Aperture Semi-Active Laser Seeker (DASALS) technology. This configuration allows existing warheads from the Hydra 70 system to be used without the need for a laser seeker in the missile nose. An APKWS-equipped rocket was fitted with a proximity fuze and destroyed a Class 2 UAS.
