Air-launched Loiter Munition (ALM) Collaboration Event (CE)

Purpose 
SOFWERX, in collaboration with USSOCOM Program Executive Office – Fixed Wing (PEO-FW), Stand-Off Precision Guided Munitions (SOPGM) Program, will host a series of events to demonstrate and integrate Air-launched Loiter Munition (ALM) capabilities. These engagements with Industry, Academia, and Government Labs, will help USSOCOM identify potential material solutions and investigate trade-space. USSOCOM intends to survey industry for mature, non-developmental, technology that may support rapid fielding of this capability.

Background
The SOPGM Program Office currently supports Special Operations Forces (SOF) aircrews with short range munitions that are employed directly to known targets, visually identified by the shooter aircraft before launch, and utilize Global Positioning System (GPS) or Semi-Active Laser (SAL) for terminal guidance. The dependencies for this employment method will place SOF Operators at an unacceptable risk during engagements in highly contested areas. New solutions are required to provide identification, tracking, and engagement of moving or mobile targets in a time compressed environment. SOF aircraft must be prepared to efficiently engage moving targets on the time scale it would face during any potential conflict with a well-resourced peer or near-peer adversary attempting an act of aggression. Traditional airborne moving target intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance (ISR) sensors currently employed by SOF will be inadequate for such a scenario due to deficiencies in survivability, speed, range, or sensor performance. Considering these capability gaps, USSOCOM is looking for ALMs to decrease the engagement time from minutes to seconds, improve targeting solutions, and increase the survivability of SOF.