Company Tiberius Aerospace announced transition in cheap Invictus guided missile development from laboratory research for concept confirmation to engineering testing and evaluation. Specifically, laboratory testing of liquid-fuel ramjet engine using Jet-A aviation fuel is already ongoing.
Perhaps main Invictus feature will be its low cost, currently expected at $199,000 level. For comparison, GMLRS missile with 70-90 km engagement range costs approximately $1.1 million, over 5.5 times more than Invictus.
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Despite such low cost, Invictus declares maximum engagement range of 180-200 kilometers. Expected is Invictus maximum speed will exceed Mach 3 (3,675 km/h), achieved as mentioned above using liquid-fuel ramjet engine.
Company says in Invictus development they actively use experience from creating their TRBM 155HG Sceptre ramjet 155mm shell, first shown in flight only in April this year. Specifically thanks to this experience company managed to so quickly transition from research stage to testing.
Recall 155mm Sceptre shell has maximum engagement range up to 150 km, while its liquid-fuel ramjet can use various fuel types, from standard aviation fuel to diesel. At initial stage it has maximum speed up to Mach 3.5 (4,290 km/h). These are far from all impressive Sceptre parameters and features.
Returning to new Invictus missile, it declares accuracy of 5.5 meters, achieved thanks to already standard GPS and inertial system combination. Invictus launch can be conducted from various platforms.
Specifically from HIMARS (and accordingly M270 MLRS), helicopters (likely AH-64 Apache), and ships. However, for such impressive capabilities, characteristics and low price, one pays with small modular payload mass, which here comprises only 10-15 kilograms.
For comparison, GMLRS M31 has 90 kg warhead, of which only 23 kg is explosive. However, even such small warhead considering high accuracy and great kinetic energy should suffice for engaging EW systems, SAM systems, radars, artillery and even tanks, for which this missile is specifically designed.
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