Canister Launched Anti-Armour Loiter Ammunition (CALM) System

Context:

• The Canister Launched Anti-Armour Loiter Ammo (CALM) System is a drone or pre-loaded loiter ammunition canister that, once launched, can linger airborne for a length of time over a chosen region before being guided to kill the target with an explosive payload.

About:

• Loiter ammunitions contain a nose-mounted camera that allows the operator to see the operation area and select particular targets.
• If these munitions have not been used in a strike, there are versions that can be recovered and repurposed.
• They’re made up of a drone and surface-to-surface missiles.
• While a missile strikes a target directly, loiter weapons with onboard observation technology and warheads remain aloft for longer after being launched in the same way as drones.
• It looks for targets while scouting the given region. Following the identification of a target, bombs are launched to destroy it.
• If no acceptable targets are discovered and the mission is terminated, loiter munitions can be collected. Compared to combat drones, loiter weapons are less expensive, smaller, and easier to use.
• During the 2021 Armenian-Azerbaijan conflict, Azerbaijani forces used this device to wreck Armenian radar equipment, tanks, and communication systems.
• The Azerbaijani soldiers had a significant edge over hostile targets like tanks thanks to the loiter ammo.

Source: THE HINDU.