March 28, 2025:
Ukrainian resourcefulness was once again demonstrated when they used a Vampire system armed with 70mm guided rockets to shoot down an incoming Russian cruise missile. The 70mm rocket was launched from a small boat equipped with a U.S. Navy ship based system called the Electronic Advanced Ground Launcher System or EAGLS. This system is also used by ground forces. EAGLS systems are used by American forces stationed in the Middle east. Currently each EAGLS system costs about five million dollars.
EAGLS provides similar functions as the earlier Vampire Anti Drone System sent to Ukraine earlier, where it performed admirably. Like Vampire, EAGLS uses APKWS II, or Advanced Precision Killer Weapon System II 70mm laser-guided rockets. APKWS 70mm rockets weigh only 15 kg and have a range of about five thousand meters when fired from the ground. EAGLS can detect and fire APKWS rockets at air and even ground targets. Any UAV, cruise missile or helicopter within range is vulnerable.
EAGLS is a self-contained system with three components. There is a Commonly Remotely Operated Weapon Station II or CROWS II equipped with a four-round 70mm rocket launcher loaded with laser-guided Advanced Precision Kill Weapon System II or APKWS II rockets. Target detection is provided by a sensor turret with electro-optical/infrared cameras and a small radar system. All of this can be carried by a pickup truck or equivalent. Alternatively EAGLS can be mounted on a pallet as a stationary installation.
The Ukrainians undertake such improvisations quickly. EAGLS uses a DRS RPS-40 radar which can detect targets ten kilometers away and track them until they come within the five kilometer range of the APKWS rockets. To deal with that, EAGLS also has an optical sight that enables the system operator to fire at targets within visual range. With a heat sensing/infrared option EAGLS can detect and fire on targets at night.
It is possible for enemy forces to detect the radar signals emitted by the EAGLS radar and fire a guided missile at a stationary EAGLS system. That’s why EAGLS is usually mounted in the back of a truck or Humvee. A new version of the APKWS II is being developed with a range of 12 kilometers. This is a major improvement over the current five kilometers.
The U.S. Navy is equipping some of its destroyers with EAGLS to increase anti-aircraft capabilities while also providing a land attack option as well.
APKWS is a 15 kg 70mm rocket, with a laser seeker, a 2.7 kg warhead and a range of about six kilometers. Laser designators on a helicopter, or with troops on the ground, are pointed at the target, and the laser seeker in the front of the APKWS homes on the reflected laser light.
APKWS was developed from the 2.75 inch/70mm rockets used during World War II as an air-to-air weapon for use against heavy bomber formations. The Germans had developed a similar, and very successful weapon, the R4M, but before long it was noted that neither the Japanese nor the Germans had any heavy bombers, so the U.S. 70mm rocket was switched to air-to-ground use. Actually, the 70mm rocket was retained for air-to-air use into the 1950s, but it was never successful in that role. The 70mm rocket became very popular in the 1960s, when it was discovered that the weapon worked very well against ground targets when launched from multiple 7 or 19 tube launchers mounted on helicopters. The 107-140 centimeter long rockets could be fired singly or in salvoes and gave helicopter pilots some airborne artillery for supporting troops on the ground. There are many variations in terms of warheads and rocket motors. Some versions can go over 10 kilometers.