Rafael’s new Rocks stand-off air-to-surface missile on the F-16I testbed during certification trials. Source: Rafael Advanced Defence Systems
On February 20, Israeli defense giant Rafael Advanced Defense Systems revealed a new air-to-surface long-range missile designed to destroy targets deep underground. The new missile, which is named “Rocks,” will be presented for the first time at the Aero India Air Show.
According to an official statement by Rafael, the new missile uses an internal navigation system (INS) companied with GPS for mid-course navigation while it locks on its target with an electro-optical (EO) seeker with an advanced image tracking system.
The Rocks can be equipped with a penetration or blast fragmentation warhead and it can be used against static or moving targets. Rafael claim that the missile can be launched from a significant standoff range and that It is capable of preforming a high velocity trajectory toward its target.
“Rocks effectively answers a growing demand for long range, GPS-independent Air-to-Ground precision strike capability,” said Yuval Miller, Executive Vice-President and General Manager of Rafael’s Air and C4ISR Systems Division, according to the Jerusalem Post.
The new missile shares several design similarities with the Black Sparrow target missile, which was designed by Rafael to test the Arrow anti-ballistic missile system. Expert believe that Rocks’s range could be as far as 300km, that’s the maximum range allowed by the Missile Technology Control Regime (MTCR).
Black Sparrow target missile on an F-15 warplane
The Rocks missile appears to be Israel’s response to Iran, which revealed a 1,350km-range cruise missile and a 1,00km-range ballistic missile earlier this year.
