OVERVIEW:  The H-2 SOW (Stand Off Weapon) is a medium-range, IR or GNSS-guided, all-weather, air-to-surface glide bomb equipped with a 460 kg warhead.

DETAILS: The H-2 is belied to be a license-built copy of the South African Raptor I.  The H-2 SOW is a precision attack weapon designed for stand-off use against high-value defended targets, including mobile targets.   

Like the larger H-4, the H-2 may have modular guidance options, such as GNSS/INS and IR seeking warheads. If this is the case, there are two methods of operation, depending on the seeker used.  In MITL, the weapon flies autonomously to the target, with the operator guiding it to a precise impact point using the datalink and the auto-tracker feature.  In the Fire-and-Forget mode, GNSS/INS aided navigation guides the weapon to the target.   The datalink has a 107nm (200km) range and can be used by either the launching aircraft or on a buddy aircraft.  

 


Specifications: 
Weight: 			980 kg 
Length: 			3.65 m 
Diameter: 		0.38 m 
Wingspan: 		3.7 m 
Speed:			 ?? knts 
Range:			32 nm (60 km)
CEP:			3.0 meters 


NOTES:  IOC:  2003 (approximate). Open source speculation is that the Raptor I could have been used as a delivery vehicle for the South African nuclear bomb.  

 


SOURCES:  
"H-4 SOW." Wikipedia, the Free Encyclopedia. Last modified February 4, 2023. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/H-4_SOW. ;"PAKISTAN’S FORCE MULTIPLIERS (PART 2): PRECISION-GUIDED BOMBS." Last modified July 8, 2016. https://quwa.org/2016/07/08/pakistans-force-multipliers-part-2-precision-guided-bombs/. ;Quwa Team. "Profile: Denel Dynamics Raptor Stand-off Weapon." Quwa. Last modified July 14, 2017. https://quwa.org/2017/03/16/profile-denel-dynamics-raptor-stand-off-weapon/. ;Wingrin, Dean. "The South African Air Force." The South African Air Force. Accessed April 29, 2023. https://www.saairforce.co.za/the-airforce/weapons/58/raptor-2-guided-bomb ; Denel Dynamics product list http://admin.denel.co.za/uploads/Denel_Dynamics_Products.pdf, pg. 19
Denel_Dynamics_Products.pdf ; "Revisiting South Africa’s Bomb." Arms Control Wonk – an Arms Control Blog Network. Accessed April 29, 2023. https://www.armscontrolwonk.com/archive/1200544/revisiting-south-africas-bomb/. ;
Wingrin, Dean. "The South African Air Force." The South African Air Force. Accessed April 29, 2023. https://www.saairforce.co.za/the-airforce/weapons/59/raptor-1-glide-bomb-h-2.