Group : Warheads
Status : Active
Also Known As : Lightweight Exo-Atmospheric Projectile, Mk142
Origin : United States of America
Contractor : Raytheon
Initial Operational Capability (IOC) : 2007
Total Production : ?

The LEAP kinetic warhead is being developed for the Standard SM-3 missile. The current LEAP represents the third generation of exo-atmospheric projectiles developed by the Raytheon company. LEAP features a long wave infrared seeker that provides acquisition ranges greater than 300 kilometers, a large field of view, a Inertial Measurement Unit (IMU), encrypted data downlink, and a solid propellant propulsion system providing over 3 kilometers terminal divert. The warhead is being designed to discriminate the decoys from the reentry vehicle in order to successfully pulverize the ballistic missile's warhead. It would withstand the effects of ECMs.