The missile of the "fire-and-forget" type Mistral MANPADS, according to MBDA, has advantages over a laser-guided missile
Is there a resurgence of interest in shoulder and tripod surface-to-air missiles with the advancement of empowering technologies and the financially justified need to do more for less? Opinions of Western experts in this area
Recent advances in microprocessor and propulsion technology have greatly expanded the range and accuracy of modern man-portable air defense systems (MANPADS), allowing them to neutralize the vastly expanded range of air targets at long ranges with unprecedented efficiency.
Shoulder-launched missiles offer defensive and offensive capabilities out of proportion to their size, allowing a single MANPADS soldier to shoot down virtually any aircraft within range of the system. In addition, the new systems are capable of shooting down smaller air targets such as drones and ballistic missiles.
The advanced capabilities offered by next-generation MANPADS are generating increased interest among large military forces seeking to optimize the combat effectiveness of small combat units and finding ways to mitigate the negative impact of shrinking budgets.
British can
Thales UK has continuously improved its Starstreak short-range surface-to-air missile system since it entered service with the British Army in 1997. Starstreak, which replaced the Javelin MANPADS of the same company, was created to provide close air defense against threats such as fighters and attack helicopters.
The newest modification, designated Starstreak II HVM (High Velocity Missile), is a development of the existing model, which has significantly increased range and accuracy, as well as improved performance, allowing you to work on targets at much higher altitudes.
Paddy Mallon, chief missile systems technologist at Thales UK, said Starstreak II is pushing the boundaries when it comes to very short-range air defense systems (VSHORADS).
“Starstreak II is arguably the most advanced anti-aircraft missile in the world VSHORADS, as it was constantly being improved, in conjunction with the Ministry of Defense, modernizations were regularly carried out in the middle stage of operation. Now the missile's range has reached about 7 km, that is, it is a very effective weapon both against short-range high-speed targets that cross the line of sight, and against long-range targets."
“The rocket has a very high acceleration, which means roughly Mach 3.5 per second; that is, you have a super-high-speed rocket, which, moreover, due to its high speed, also provides a large lateral acceleration. Thus, you are able to intercept high-speed targets that cross the line of sight, and you can also fire a missile at long range."
The missile consists of three arrow-shaped kinetic tungsten submunitions, which have their own guidance and control system; warhead with a deceleration fuse; two-stage solid-propellant rocket engine; expelling charge, operating at the time of launch; and the second stage main engine.
“The key element at the heart of the warhead itself is obviously the shock effect, that is, the entire mass of the warhead, the entire mass of the missile strikes the target. Due to the high flight speed (over the entire flight range, the submunitions have sufficient maneuverability to destroy targets flying with an overload of up to 9g), the striking arrow-shaped submunition of the Starstreak rocket penetrates the target's hull, and then explodes inside it with maximum damage. While with many other anti-aircraft missiles, you lose most of the debris in the air around the aircraft, and not inside the target itself,”explained Mallon.
Beam guidance
“The Starstreak MANPADS is a means of hitting targets within the line of sight. The complex is not illuminated by a laser in the literal sense; When people talk about laser targeting, they are really talking about high power semi-active laser guidance systems. Thales has developed a laser emitter that is much lower power and therefore undetectable,”continued Mallon.
“Our laser is scanning, imagine a laser diode scanning from left to right and a second laser diode scanning from bottom to top, and this happens hundreds of times per second. In fact, the laser beam creates an encoded information field, we call it a laser information field, that is, wherever you are inside this field, the submunition that hits it knows where it is. All he is trying to do is to get into the center of this field."
According to the developer, the system is difficult, if not impossible, to drown out, since the MANPADS transmitter is not activated until the operator presses the trigger, so the target does not know that it has already become a target until the missile leaves the launch tube and goes to the target at a speed exceeding the speed of sound more than three times.
“When you pull the trigger, the transmitter turns on. You, in essence, keep the crosshair on the target, and if the crosshair is on the target, then in this case the center of the laser information field is also on the target, and then the striking projectile is guaranteed to hit the target."
“There is a small laser receiver window at the rear of the submunition that looks at the launcher. The receiver receives the transmitted information and we use it to keep the submunition in the center of the field."
The calculation of the complex, as a rule, consists of two people: the operator and the commander. All Thales MANPADS currently on the market use the LML (Lightweight Multiple Launcher) tripod, which is offered in several versions.
“The LML has a launch control unit that includes optics, a thermal imager and a trigger. We also install it on some lightweight platforms for several overseas customers. Our LML tripod with tracking and fire control unit can handle up to three missiles,”said Mallon.
Update
The Swedish defense company Saab also presented a modernized version of the RBS 70 MANPADS, which has been in service with many countries since the late 60s. The new complex was designated RBS 70 NG. Despite the same designation, the new variant is a completely different system.
The RBS 70 NG is a Command Line-of-Sight (CLOS) laser-guided missile system. The launcher consists of a transport and launch container with a rocket, a tripod and a sight. Although the complex is based on the previous model in order to simplify upgrades, it has a more advanced integrated guidance system and a fourth generation Bolide missile capable of dealing with targets maneuvering with accelerations of more than 20g (!).
“We have added a completely new targeting module to the system and it is the heart of the whole complex,” said Bill Forsberg, head of sales at Saab.
“What's new in the RBS 70 NG guidance system? Integrated thermal imaging sight with a very long detection range for all types of targets, more than 20 km. We have integrated an automatic target tracking machine into the complex, which minimizes the number of control commands sent to the missile on the way to the target. In the previous system, the operators controlled the rocket with a joystick."
“Here we left the previous possibilities, the operator can still shoot manually, but with the automatic tracking, everything is much more pleasant. Compared to a human operator, it generates significantly less interference that degrades the characteristics of the missile control system during flight, and as a result we get greater accuracy … We have an automatic video recording of the entire firing process, so that you can then see how everything happened, what was done whether the target was correctly captured and the like."
Forsberg explained that the system provides a three-dimensional visual representation of the target, which allows the operator to more confidently engage the target and reduce the overall response time to one second. Another key feature of the RBS 70 NG MANPADS is its noise immunity.
“We also have the ability to interrupt the firing process at any second, up to the moment the target is intercepted. We have laser-guided receivers at the rear of the rocket and a communication channel directly from the sight to the rocket. Therefore, in order to muffle this signal, you need to stand between the sight and the rocket, which is unlikely or even impossible, Forsberg said.
“We have a remote fuse that is optimized for dealing with small attacking targets such as ballistic missiles. Our complex can actually fight almost all targets, we can shoot at everything, from ground targets at zero altitude to helicopters and fighters at an altitude of 5000 meters, and these are unique characteristics."
Forsberg said the missile could also penetrate any existing armored personnel carrier, hinting that MANPADS could be used both for self-defense on the ground and for countering attack helicopters with improved crew protection.
“There are no other anti-aircraft systems that are capable of fighting ground targets, but we can shoot at anything that is at a distance of 220 to 8 km,” he said. - The interception range of our complex is 8 km. When our competitors talk about the firing range, they mean the maximum range, but then we are talking about our maximum range, which is up to 15.7 km."
Forsberg continued: “Most customers keep their systems either in a platoon configuration or in a division, that is, a division with multiple platoons. A platoon usually consists of three or four fire brigades. Three calculations can cover an area of 460 square kilometers. If you compare with any system with infrared homing, then a platoon with such complexes will cover only about 50 square kilometers."
Saab's RBS 70 NG "jam-resistant" rocket can be used on a variety of platforms, including vehicles and portable complexes
Autonomous weapons
The European missile manufacturer, MBDA, offers the latest version of its Mistral MANPADS with improved target designation and anti-jamming capabilities.
The Mistral self-guided missile of the “fire and forget” type has a high-explosive fragmentation warhead weighing 3 kg, which contains ready-made tungsten spherical striking elements (1500 pieces). The warhead itself is equipped with a laser proximity (remote) fuse and a contact fuse, as well as a self-destruction timer. The infrared seeker is placed inside the pyramidal fairing. This shape has an advantage over the usual spherical one, since it reduces drag. The homing head (GOS) uses a mosaic-type receiving device made on indium arsenide and operating in the range of 3-5 microns, which significantly increases the ability to detect and lock targets with reduced IR radiation, and also makes it possible to distinguish a useful signal from a false one (the sun, brightly lit clouds, IR traps, etc.); the declared probability of defeat is 93%.
“Currently, in the units of the French army, we are modernizing the Mistral MANPADS, installing a new homing head in the missiles,” said a representative of the MBDA company."Now we have the ability to hit targets with weak thermal unmasking features, such as missiles and UAVs, which was the requirement of the French army and navy."
“We've made a significant improvement in resilience to IR countermeasures, which are typically traps and radiating interference, we can handle all of them. Of course, this increases the detection range of targets with low infrared signature, such as aircraft in frontal projection, when you can not see the engines."
At present, the actual range of the system is 6.5 km. As a rule, the complex is deployed by two operators, a commander and a gunner. Although it can be deployed by one person, a two-person calculation is preferable, since it is easier to carry, interact and provide psychological support.
“We've also improved other parts of the rocket, such as electronics. The protection unit has been improved, because when you integrate more compact modern electronics, you have a certain amount of space freed up. In addition, we have improved the MANPADS sight, as well as the coordinate system; based on our experience, we have simplified the logistics, and we have maintained compatibility between previous versions of MANPADS and new generations,”- said the representative of MBDA.
Different types
MANPADS manufacturers produce two types of these systems: with missiles with infrared seeker and with missiles guided by a laser beam. The representative of the MBDA company noted that most of the anti-aircraft missiles with infrared seeker, produced by Russian and American competitors of MBDA, are shoulder-launched systems and, as a result, have less effective on-board electronics and warhead.
“Rockets launched from the shoulder are, of course, smaller in size, their seeker is weaker and less effective. We have carried out a direct assessment of the systems of different countries and have shown that the effectiveness of the Mistral missile is significantly better than the effectiveness of "shoulder" competitors with a smaller warhead, without a remote fuse, "he said.
“As far as beam-guided missiles are concerned, they are not at all like fire-and-forget or homing. This guidance is less accurate and the longer the range, the worse the accuracy, since your aiming unit is on the ground and therefore the range directly affects the accuracy."
“Beam-guided missiles require more training, a heavier and more complex targeting unit, the only advantage is low susceptibility to countermeasures. But with the implementation of the latest improvements for Mistral MANPADS, the benefits of infrared guidance are reduced to zero."
Mallon objected that infrared missiles with seeker and remote fuse are prohibitively expensive and have their own disadvantages.
“Since you have decided to install a remote fuse and a standard-sized warhead, then prepare for increased aerodynamic drag and reduced flight time. Take the Starstreak MANPADS, you will not find this in it, since our most important requirement in its creation was the destruction of high-speed targets or helicopters with a low approach to the target and a subsequent sharp climb, he explained.
“Such systems as Mistral and Stinger have a remote fuse and a warhead, but they are limited in range, they are quite expensive, since they have a seeker. While we are trying to reduce the cost of our systems as much as possible”.
“The Starstreak missile has a very short flight time, and this is primarily due to high acceleration, and secondly, this is facilitated by the small diameter and low aerodynamic resistance of the submunitions themselves. Obviously there are advantages to remote fuses, but a critical requirement for Starstreak was to hit such targets at high speed in a minimum amount of time,”continued Mallon.
MANPADS Starstreak in accordance with the contract signed in September 2015, was sold to Thailand
Air superiority
Western armies have long enjoyed air superiority and therefore kept their needs for inexpensive air defense systems to a minimum. On the contrary, the MANPADS market was dominated by the armies of developing countries, seeking to obtain increased combat capabilities at a minimal cost.
“In the Western world, MANPADS were not so important for many years due to air superiority. But in other parts of the world they are definitely becoming more dominant,”Mallon said.
“If you look at the Asia-Pacific region, the military is constantly updating their systems against the backdrop of healthy economic growth. It is obvious that they have now gained access to modern weapons platforms and an increase in defense spending is expected in the countries of this region."
He continued: “Countries like China are increasing their spending, and countries around it are watching this process with alarm and are beginning to think about increasing their military spending. We therefore see an increase in interest in MANPADS, but this is only the very beginning."
Forsberg suggested that the demand for MANPADS will increase worldwide, noting, however, that the recent drop in sales was most likely the result of depressive trends in the global economy.
“Many countries have programs in which they either buy new weapons systems, or upgrade those they already have, or change these systems for something else. But, based on the economic situation, they postponed their investments and programs for the future, maybe for one, or maybe for several years,”he said.
“That is, as far as I understand, the market will feel better at least in 2016-2017. Most of these will be customers who want to replace their legacy systems.”
A spokesman for MBDA expressed his point of view, saying that the needs for portable air defense systems are not aimed at MANPADS, as the military wants more integrated solutions. “More and more armies are choosing more comfortable solutions for their air defense systems. Simple MANPADS have such negative traits as fatigue and openness of the shooter, who must stand and wait for hours for his moment."
“In cold weather, in winter, it is very difficult to stand in position for more than two hours, and that's why you need to put a rocket in the system, put the guy in a container or in an air-conditioned car, where he can stay for a long time. I think for this reason MANPADS cannot yet occupy the niche due to them."
Also, the MBDA representative noted that the market for MANPADS is not growing in real terms. It's just that the systems of the previous generation are running out of life and as a result, new purchases are made only because the armies are replacing existing systems with what is currently available on the market.
“But we are seeing growth in Eastern Europe, where armies are switching to Western MANPADS as part of a move away from Russian weapons. Among these countries, one can mention Hungary and Estonia and some others. This is proof that these countries are turning to the West to obtain their weapons and, in particular, MANPADS,”he said.
Upgrade potential
With regard to future upgrades to the RBS 70 NG complex, Forsberg said that Saab is always striving to improve its systems and is working to integrate this system with vehicles and ships.
“Of course, we have a friend or foe interrogator for this system both in the MANPADS configuration and for the complex installed on the vehicle. That is, it could be an integrated sighting system on top of a cross-country vehicle,”he said.
“We are considering rockets weighing more than 100 kg, I think they are not that heavy. We also offer our clients with a need for mobile complexes, MANPADS on a tripod, which can be used in two ways. For example, you arrived at the intended position, but buildings and trees limit you there, then you take a tripod and a complex and put it on the ground where you need it, and use the same sight that you used in the car, simply disconnecting it and installing it on the MANPADS. So, you buy a platform integrated with the machine and you get two possibilities in one bottle."
An MBDA spokesperson added: “We are continuously working to improve our systems. Our next goal is to develop Mistral MANPADS integrated into the network, as well as new launchers and a new reusable automatic launcher."
Mallon explained that Thales is striving to better understand and define the requirements for short-range air defense of different countries, including the UK. She is considering several options for expanding the capabilities of the Starstreak HVM MANPADS, not only missiles, but also the launcher itself.
“The progress of automatic target tracking systems and the like is obvious, so we are striving to develop systems of a smaller size. Compared to the previous complexes, this will make it possible to obtain a truly integrated system,”he continued.
“As for the missile itself, we want to improve the characteristics of the targeting submunitions guidance system. We also want to increase the range of the missile over 8 km and for this range to make it more effective in terms of guidance accuracy."
