Raytheon has delivered its first R7 high-speed anti-radiation missile (HARM) pod to the Air Force, designed to find and identify ground-based emitters. The R7 HARM targeting system is the first upgraded pod to be equipped with new hardware and software, including a GPS receiver. The HARM system allows the pilot to find emitters that can then be destroyed by precision guided munitions. All the current Air Force HTS pods will be upgraded to R7 in the next two years, according to a Raytheon statement.
The Pentagon’s new counter-drone task force will play a direct role in arming Airmen with new weapons to defend Air Force agile combat employment, or ACE, air bases in austere locations against enemy drone attacks, the director of Joint Interagency Task Force 401 said Oct. 14.