When asked how industry can support efforts in the Ukraine, L3Harris’ ISR Sector President Luke Savoie emphasized that industry should be active listeners – tuned to the customers’ challenges to anticipate mission needs – and ready with the right combination of integrated mission solutions that are appropriately sized to meet those requirements.
From an industry perspective, it’s all about providing rapid response. The most effective thing is to be able to provide effective product quickly and to look at our current inventory and provide options to decision-makers in the U.S. to provide capability to the Ukrainians is really what our responsibility is right now.
– Luke Savoie, President, ISR Sector, L3Harris, SOFIC, May 2022
The VAMPIRE prototype was developed through internal research and development with input from various customers. Three months after its SOFIC debut, the Department of Defense announced VAMPIRE as part of a security assistance package under the Ukraine Security Assistance Initiative (USAI) in August.
L3Harris' VAMPIRE provides ground forces the ability to engage ground and air targets beyond the range of weapons normally carried by special operations and light forces. It is modular, portable, can be mounted in-field and provides significant air coverage and defense while allowing an operator to hide, move and fire in quick succession.
The portable kit that can be installed on most vehicles with a cargo bed for launching advanced precision kill weapons systems (APKWS) or other laser-guided munitions.
The VAMPIRE system can be configured with different sensors and weapons packages depending on mission need. It includes a target designator kit and APKWS launcher to track, laser designate and engage targets. An L3Harris proximity fuze maximizes blast effectiveness of munitions. It is also vehicle-agnostic, meaning it can be mounted on virtually any type of standard pickup truck, commercial or tactical vehicle by two people, in two hours, using common tools for long-range defense against air and ground attacks.
