Delilah is a fleet of air-launched, advanced stand-off cruise missiles manufactured by Elbit Systems Land, a subsidiary of Elbit Systems based in Israel.
The missile system was developed by Israel’s state-owned arms manufacturer Israeli Military Industries (IMI) Systems, which was acquired by Elbit Systems in November 2018.
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The Delilah missile has been in service with the Israeli Air Force since 1994. It offers high manoeuvrability with unique loiter, cruise and go-around operational capabilities. It enables precise target acquisition and precision attack on high-value moving, stationary or re-locatable targets with high lethality and minimal collateral damage.
Delilah missiles design and features
The Delilah cruise missile is 2.71m long and 0.33m in diameter, with a launch weight of 185kg. It is designed to be armed with a variety of warheads weighing between 30kg and 54kg for striking both land and sea targets. It can be operated on land, in littoral waters and in the open sea in all weather, day and night.
The missile features multi-platform launch versatility and can be launched from fixed-wing aircraft. The Delilah HL is the helicopter-launched variant of the missile, while the Delilah GL is ground-launched and Delilah SL is ship-launched.
An inertial navigation/global positioning navigation system (INS/GPS) guides the missile to perform its mission autonomously, while the advanced electro-optical seeker senses the target to trigger a response.
The missile is equipped with advanced avionics and real-time video imagery (man-in-the-loop) for selectable hit points. It uses a coupled-charged device/imaging infrared seeker for terminal guidance.
Range extension and smart tail (REST) kit for Delilah missile
Delilah is equipped with a modular solution called range extension and smart tail (REST) kit, which includes two upper wings for extending the range and a smart tail for navigation and guidance.
The two upper wings are aerodynamic super-structures encompassing the warhead which unfold upon release. The smart tail contains the INS/GPS navigation computer and anti-jamming system.
The REST kit offers all-weather precision fire-and-forget capability ranging up to 120km and is capable of a steep impact angle for enhanced penetration of hard targets. It is compatible with a range of warheads and fuses and enables the integration of weapon systems in Western and Eastern aircraft without making any changes in their avionics.
Performance
The missile is powered by a BS-175 turbo-jet engine for a long-range and adaptive flight profile. It can target up to a range of 250km.
The system can alter the missile speed between Mach 0.5 and Mach 0.7 to extend its loitering time over targets. It can dive at a speed of Mach 0.85 to hit the target with an accuracy of 1m circular error probable.
Advantages of the Delilah missile
The missile offers a flexible mission profile with multi-waypoints autonomous navigation and guidance.
Delilah and Delilah HL provide a pre-programmed mission capability, which can be updated post-launch, and a man-in-the-loop override capability to select a target and final attack approval. It enables in-flight target-of-opportunity designation in real time for re-attack and battle damage assessment.
Carrier aircraft details
The missile was initially fitted to the F-4 Phantom aircraft. Its variants have, however, evolved over time and can be fitted to the F-16 Fighting Falcon, the Super Phantom, the F-16D Brakeet and the F-161 Sufa.
It can be carried by the Sikorsky UH-60 Black Hawk and SH-60B helicopters.
