AGM-123 Skipper II

AGM-123 Skipper II is a short-range laser-guided missile developed by the United States Navy. The Skipper was intended as an anti-ship weapon, capable of disabling the largest vessels with a 1,000-lb (450-kg) impact-fuzed warhead.

Design

The AGM-123 is composed out of a 1,000 lb (454 kg) Mark 83 low-drag general purpose bomb fitted with a Paveway guidance kit and one Aerojet Mk 78 solid-propellant rocket that fires upon launch. The rocket allows the AGM-123 to be dropped farther away from the target than could free-fall bombs, which helps protect the delivery aircraft from surface-to-air-missiles and anti-aircraft artillery near the target.

The AGM-123 was developed at the China Lake Naval Weapons Center and was carried by the A-6E Intruder, A-7 Corsair II, and F/A-18.

Operational history

Four Skipper missiles launched by A-6E Intruders contributed to sinking the Iranian frigate Sahand during Operation Praying Mantis on April 18, 1988.^[2]

Skipper missiles were also fired in Operation Desert Storm against Iraqi surface vessels by A-6s and U.S. Marine aircraft.^[2]

Gallery

• 
  An AGM-123A Skipper II low-level laser-guided missile mounted on the wing pylon of a Vought A-7
• 
  A U.S. Navy Grumman A-6E Intruder as its crew monitors the flight of two AGM-123A low-level, laser-guided missiles

References

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to AGM-123 Skipper II.