MBDA Viper Strike

The GBU-44/B Viper Strike is a small, GPS-aided, laser-guided glide munition that Northrop Grumman developed from its Brilliant Anti-Tank submunition by replacing the original acoustic and infrared seeker with a semi-active laser seeker in 2003. It was meant for light unmanned aircraft such as the RQ-5 Hunter and was also fitted to the AC-130 gunship and the KC-130J Harvest Hawk. It weighs about 20 kilograms, carries a warhead of about one kilogram and has a range of more than 10 kilometres. Flight tests began in March 2003 and it was first used in combat in September 2007. MBDA Inc. bought the Viper Strike business from Northrop Grumman in December 2011 and the design is now owned by MBDA, although the weapon was phased out of the inventory of the US Special Operations Command after it failed to meet lethality requirements.