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The U.S. Army has successfully flight tested a new seeker that will help transform its new Precision Strike Missile short-range ballistic missile into weapon that can strike moving ships and enemy air defenses.
As for the PrSM Increment 2 seeker itself, Military & Aerospace Electronics has previously reported that it combines a passive radio-frequency seeker and an imaging infrared seeker. A PrSM Increment 2 missile would use its GPS-assist INS guidance to get to the general target area before switching over to this seeker system.
"Once the missile reaches its target area, it listens for radio signals from enemy radar or communications to refine its targeting, and finally uses an imaging infrared sensor to pinpoint its target before impact," according to a November 2023 story from Military & Aerospace Electronics. Warships, especially larger ones, often have multiple radars and communications arrays. Initial targeting data would be provided by off-board sensors.
This combination of guidance would make the missile very resistant to electronic warfare jamming. The multi-mode seeker would also be able to fuse data from its different subcomponents to improve its overall accuracy, even against a moving target. It also worth noting that ballistic missiles like PrSM reach hypersonic or near-hypersonic speeds in the terminal phase, making them especially hard to defend against.
The passive radio-frequency seeker element of the guidance package will allow PrSM Increment 2 to be used against enemy air defense systems, by zeroing in on their radars, in addition to ships. It could be employed as a long-range strike weapon against enemy communication nodes or other kinds of emitters, as well.
https://www.thedrive.com/the-war-zone/seeker-for-u.....ght-tested
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