L3Harris Technologies has won a Popular Science “Best of What’s New” award, for its Vehicle Agnostic Modular Palletized ISR Rocket Equipment technology.
VAMPIRE received this recognition, which spotlights novel inventions that impact human lives, society and the planet, for its ability to transform nearly any vehicle with a cargo bed into a mobile weapons system able to engage ground and airborne targets, the Melbourne, Florida-based company revealed late last month.
“This award speaks volumes about the L3Harris team and demonstrates what is possible using raw ingenuity, creativity and forward thinking in responding to our customers’ needs,” said Luke Savoie, president of the intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance sector at L3Harris.
The enterprise submitted the VAMPIRE prototype to the Department of Defense earlier this year, after which it was chosen to be included in the department’s $3 billion security assistance package under the Ukraine Security Assistance Initiative. It was designed to meet the DOD’s request for critical defense offerings needed to safeguard Ukraine from attacks on civilian infrastructure.
“VAMPIRE answered DoD’s call for a quickly produced capability that will help the people of Ukraine and hopefully save lives,” Savoie stated.
The modular, multi-purpose weapons system can be utilized against ground and air threats, which includes unmanned aerial vehicles. Its mission management system uses a WESCAM MX-10 RSTA targeting sensor with its weapons station, enabling an operator to swiftly and precisely engage targets. Users are able to tailor the system to the unique needs of each mission, as VAMPIRE can be configured with different sensors and weapons packages.
VAMPIRE was selected for use in Ukraine due to its affordable yet accurate nature. The Precision Kill Weapons System rocket delivers higher lethality for engaging small or soft targets when operated in tandem with L3Harris’ proximity fuse.
L3Harris began field testing the initial prototype in 2021 and continued range and durability tests of a more developed prototype this year.
