Ten to fifteen years after the Rapier anti-aircraft missile system was adopted by the British military, it became clear that it was necessary to attend to the creation of a new air defense system of a similar class. Based on economic and practical considerations, it was decided not to create a new air defense system from scratch, but to make it through a deep modernization of the existing Rapier. British Aerospace won the tender for the modernization of the old complex. This choice of the military can be explained by the fact that not long before this company was formed through the merger and transformation of several defense enterprises, including the British Aircraft Corporation, which created the original Rapier.
Work on the new complex, called Rapier-2000, began in 1986. The purpose of the modernization was simple: to create a new air defense system with small forces and costs, capable of effectively dealing with all existing and promising air targets. In addition, it was necessary to increase the potential of the complex in relation to low-altitude targets and ensure the ability to work in conditions of the use of modern electronic warfare equipment by the enemy. Finally, the new air defense system had to have sufficient mobility, which required the use of wheeled chassis.
The main element of the Rapier-2000 anti-aircraft missile system is the Rapier Mk2 missile, which is the direct heir to the original version of the Rapier's ammunition. The rocket is 2, 24 meters long and with a launch weight of 43 kilograms is made according to the normal aerodynamic design. Four stabilizers with built-in command receiver antennas are mounted in the middle part of the cylindrical body. The rudders and their drives, respectively, are located at the rear of the rocket, in front of the nozzle of the solid propellant engine. In addition, there are four tracers in the tail of the rocket: with their help, the optical-electronic station of the anti-aircraft missile system can track the movement of the rocket. The missile warhead is made in two versions. In the first case, it is a high-explosive fragmentation warhead with a remote fuse based on a laser rangefinder, and in the second, a semi-armor-piercing warhead with a contact fuse. The first is designed to destroy small targets like unmanned aerial vehicles or cruise missiles, and the second is used to attack aircraft and helicopters. In both combat parts of the rocket there is a self-liquidator. It is triggered if, during the first 0.5 seconds of flight, the missile does not receive commands from the guidance station. The missiles are transported in special containers. Before equipping the launcher, the missiles are removed from the containers, after which they are installed on the guides. Among other things, during the modernization of the old Mk1 missiles and bringing them to the Mk2 state, British Aerospace designers increased the ammunition resource. For this reason, Rapier Mk2 missiles can be stored in a shipping container for up to ten years, of course, with proper storage and handling.
The missiles are launched from the launcher guides. It is a module mounted on a two-wheeled chassis. On a hydraulically driven turntable, there are eight missile guides and two optical-electronic observation station (OES) blocks - a sighting and an apparatus. Thanks to the turntable, the guides and OES have circular horizontal guidance. The guides and sighting devices can move vertically within the range from -5 ° to + 60 °. The installation of missiles on the guides is done manually by the forces of two soldiers based on the complex.
To detect and track targets, the Rapier-2000 complex has a Dagger radar station. Radar computers can detect and track simultaneously up to 75 targets. In addition, the equipment allows, in a semi-automatic mode, to distribute targets according to the degree of danger and to build an attack order accordingly. According to a number of sources, the Dagger radar automation has the function of countering anti-radar ammunition. So, having detected an attack, the station automatically turns off the transmission of any signals, which, as conceived by the designers, should confuse the missile aimed at the radiation source. The Dagger radar antenna consists of 1024 receiving and transmitting elements and allows you to confidently "see" targets at a distance of up to 20 kilometers. In addition, Dagger performs friend-or-foe identification.
Guiding the missile at the target is the task of the separate Blindfire-2000 radar station. It is a further development of the corresponding element of the Rapier complex - radar DN-181 - and has better characteristics in comparison with it. In particular, "Blandfair-2000" uses linear frequency modulation of the emitted signal, which significantly improves noise immunity. It is interesting that the guidance station of the Rapier-2000 complex takes the missile for escort a little earlier than it was on Rapier. To do this, on the launcher, namely on the targeting unit, there is an additional missile control antenna. This antenna is used to launch the rocket under the main signal. If the resistance to interference of the Blindfire-2000 station turns out to be insufficient, the missile is guided using the OES. It includes a television camera and a thermal imager. Using the missile tracer, the OES gives the computer its coordinates. At the same time, it is possible to simultaneously detect and track the target by optical means. Nevertheless, regardless of the detection method used, the sending of commands to the missile is carried out over the radio channel. At the same time, it is possible to fire only two targets - by the number of target tracking means and missiles.
All elements of the Rapier-2000 anti-aircraft missile system are mounted on three identical two-axle trailers, which can be towed by any available vehicle of the appropriate carrying capacity. In this case, the main towing vehicle is off-road trucks: simultaneously with ensuring mobility, they are also used as transport vehicles. One truck can carry 15-20 missiles in shipping containers. Each trailer, on which the complex is mounted, is equipped with a separate diesel generator, air conditioner and liquid cooling system to ensure the operability of the equipment. In addition to three trailers with equipment and missiles, the complex includes two remote control panels on tripods. One of them is the workplace of the crew commander, the other is the operator. When the air defense system is deployed into a combat position, the calculation connects all elements using fiber optic cables. Radio communication between them is not provided. This was done to increase the efficiency of the interaction of systems in the conditions of the enemy's use of electronic warfare.
The Rapier-2000 anti-aircraft missile system was adopted by the ground forces and the British Air Force in 1995. Initially, it was planned to produce for their own needs more than two hundred sets of "Rapier-2000", but for a number of reasons it was possible to do this only after more than ten years. At the same time, the setting allowed British Aerospace to create an export version called Jernas. It differs from the original Rapier-2000 only in the layout of some nodes and the platform used. So, the Jernas launcher and the Dagger detection radar can be installed both on a two-wheeled trailer and instead of the body of a suitable car. This, for example, can be a well-known SUV HMMWV or a similar car. As for the control panels, in all cases they are mounted in the cab of the machine.
