ST. LOUIS, Sept. 30, 1996 -- The Navy successfully launched a Standoff Land Attack Missile (SLAM) from a P-3C in a test conducted off Pt. Mugu, Calif., on Sept. 12.
The P-3C co-pilot controlled the SLAM dead center into a target on San Nicholas Island.
"Two firsts were achieved," said James Restelli, vice president for missile systems at McDonnell Douglas. "Number one, this is the first P-3C SLAM launch, and number two, the mission was downloaded from the SLAM real-time mission planning computer to the SLAM missile in flight, just before it was launched. It was a job well done by a joint Navy and MDA team."
The P-3 SLAM integration program started in August 1992 with a McDonnell Douglas/U.S. Navy P-3 compatibility test at Pt. Mugu. A formal certification program began in July 1995. U.S. Navy test engineers performed captive flight profile testing and SLAM ballistic aerodynamic test vehicle drop tests at the Naval Air Warfare Center at Patuxent River, Md. Engineers at McDonnell Douglas developed the SLAM real-time mission planning system, which is similar to the Sea SLAM launch activity.
This P-3C SLAM configuration is planned to be utilized in the Battle Field Assessment and Data Dissemination joint forces interoperability demonstration to be held later this year at Camp Pendelton Marine Corps Base, Oceanside, Calif.
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