Turbo-Jet Powered Jackal Missile Won't Leave Anything Standing Once It Strikes

The thing is the work of defense contractor Northrop Grumman and it is described as a turbo-jet powered precision strike missile. Details on it were presented this week with no details surrounding a possible date for deployment, but with enough data on capabilities to make us want to know more.

We don't know exactly what powers the missile, other than the fact it is a turbo-jet system. Thanks to it, the Jackal should be pretty fast in reaching its target, and thanks to the other technologies that will go into it, unforgiving on its target.

The missile has been designed to be launched from air, land, and sea platforms. It can be fired at an unsuspecting target from a standoff range of 62 miles (100 km), and it will hurtle toward its destination at speeds that can reach 373 mph (600 kph). That means a target located at the maximum distance from the launch point will be reached and obliterated in just ten minutes after launch.

The platform has been designed in such a way as to be capable of carrying both lethal warheads, and non-lethal payloads the likes of intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance (ISR) gear, and means of electronic warfare, as long as it doesn't weigh more than 10 pounds (4.5 kg).

The missile can work in GPS denied environments, meaning traditional means of electronic countermeasures will not work against it. It has the ability to autonomously navigate itself through waypoints, but more importantly than that, it can be re-tasked on the fly. Once it acquires a target, it won't let do until it strikes, and it does so by sprinting to its destination once the acquisition is complete.

Northrop Grumman does not say how far along it is with the development of this weapon, and for the time being the only glimpse of it came our way by means of the short video posted below. It shows the Jackal in flight, going both solo and in formation towards imagined enemies, and once it strikes nothing seems to be left standing.

The project dates back to 2022, when the Jackal was first presented at the Special Operations Forces Industry Conference (SOFIC) held in Tampa, Florida. Work on it is conducted together with loitering munition specialist AeroVironment, and it is supposed to be slotted between that company's Switchblade 300 and 600 solutions, blending the best features of both.