Laser-Guided Rocket Test Firing – Advanced Precision Kill Weapon System (APKWS)

The United States has the strongest military on the planet, and to maintain that lead over the rest of the world, our men and women in uniform are always pushing the boundaries of technology in vehicles, surveillance, and weaponry. By combining those three, they’re able to provide our airmen and airwomen with the best tools to do their job.

The focus of this clip is deceptively easy to miss. If you don’t watch carefully, you won’t even see what’s going on, but when you do realize what is happening, you’ll realize just how badass these laser guided rockets are. Mounted in a small pod on the side of this Harrier jet, the Advanced Precision Kill Weapon System, or APKWS, are used to fire on very specific targets using a laser infrared guided rocket (LiGR). The munitions are small and have a lower yield on impact, which combined with the precision of the laser guidance, well help cut down on collateral damage. You can see in the footage, the missiles create a very small “splash” upon impact.

It just so happens, these APKWS’s are about 1/3rd the cost and 1/3 the weight of a typical laser guided munition, and they can be loaded and unloaded in about 1/4 of the time. All of these factors combine to make the APKWS a great addition to our military aircraft.

We are very well aware of the sacrifices made by our men and women in uniform and are proud to share the advances our military is making with our fans. Technology like this always trickles down in some way to something we can use at home or in other civilian outlets. We send a sincere thanks to all our service members and thank them for their sacrifices and courage in defending our freedoms from those who wish harm upon us.