FlightGlobal.com
Home
Premium
Archive
Video
Images
Forum
Atlas
Blogs
Jobs
Shop
RSS
Email Newsletters
You are in:
Home
Aviation History
1960
1960 - 1361.PDF
Missiles and Spaceflight ENGINS MATRA LITTLE has previously been published about the renowned•" French armaments company of Engins Matra, who since 1946 have been one of the world's leading specialists in the fields of air-to-air rocket projectiles and their launchers and air-to-air guided weapons. The firm is a limited company with a capital of onemillion New Francs. President and general manager is Marcel Chassagny, plant area is at present 195,900 sq ft (98 per centgreater than in 1955) and the staff number 1,100 (47 per cent up on 1955). There are three design and prototype offices and a com-puting laboratory in the Paris area, and a production plant is located at Salbris (Loir-et-Cher).Largest weapon system undertaken by Engins Matra is the R.422 surface-to-air missile. Illustrated and briefly described in our last"Missiles" issue on November 6, 1959, the R.422 is a canard device noosted by a tandem motor and provided with comparison-type radarcommand guidance to the vicinity of the target and semi-active homing for the terminal phase. Carrying a 2201b warhead detonated by aproximity fuze, the missile was intended for operation against super- sonic aircraft flying at between 26,000 and 59,000ft; but in the eventnone of the French surface-to-air weapons were placed in production. Of much greater importance are the company's air-to-air missiles.Since 1951 the Societe Matra have been actively developing an unusual family of air-to-air weapons which manoeuvre by twist-and-steer. Thecylindrical body has a wing at the rear (sometimes fitted with small fins) together with moving foreplanes and a ventral rudder. Propulsion is provided by a Hotchkiss-Brandt solid motor giving 3,5301b thrust for3sec, and thereafter providing 4411b thrust for 13.5sec. Auxiliary power is provided by an Andyar silver/zinc battery, which drives the controlservos and gyro accelerometer. The parent aircraft's fire-control illuminates the target, and the returnemission is homed upon by a seeking aerial in the nose of the missile, offset 8° from the major axis and scanning conically at 225 revolutionsper second. For long-range firing, an aerial in the trailing edge of the missile's wing receives the coded transmission directly. Precise detailsremain classified, but it is known that the homing head is semi-passive and operates to some degree in visual e.m. wavelengths. An IR homing head was developed with approximately the sameweight and bulk. It scans over 20° and during test firings at Colomb- Bechar proved extremely accurate, but the PbS sensitive element couldbe used only at night and this system has now been abandoned. R.511 is now in full production. The operational round has a 55.11bHotchkiss-Brandt h.e. warhead, detonated by a command signal from the homing head. The missile can be fired from any point from 30 to60° from the axis behind the target, and can pull 12g at Ml at 33,000ft altitude. Firing weight of the R.511 is 3971b, and length and wingspanare respectively 10ft 2in and 39.4in. Speed at burnout is Ml.8, maxi- mum range is 4.35 miles and the altitude limits are normally 9,800to 59,000ft. Superseding the R.511 is an entirely new missile designated R.53O.Details of this fine weapon are classified, and the illustration reproduced here is the only one yet cleared for publication. In configuration itstrongly resembles our own Firestreak, from which it differs aero- dynamically in having acute delta surfaces, the cruciforms of wings andtail controls being indexed in line. Like the Hughes Falcon family the 530 is being developed in both radar and infra-red versions. A con-siderable number of rounds have been fired during the flight-test pro- gramme, and it is expected that it will become the standard air-to-airmissile of the French services within about 18 months. One line of development in which Engins Matra have shone brilliantlyis the development and production of spin-stabilized aircraft rockets and their launchers. More than 40 basic designs have been produced, andthe majority have been manufactured in very large quantities for 26 types of aircraft of both French and foreign manufacture. Last monthit was announced that an agreement had been signed between Engins Matra and Thomas French & Sons, of Manchester, licensing the Britishcompany to manufacture these launchers in Britain. Matra launchers have from the outset been designed to minimize manufacturing costs.Indicative of the type of equipment that the company have evolved are the two patterns of launching system illustrated. The Type 104 isbuilt in to certain versions of the Vautour, and carries 112 rockets each of 68mm (2.677in) calibre. The rockets are slung seven-deep, eachbeing suspended from the one immediately above and the topmost of each column suspended from an eight-rack tray which is wound down-wards rapidly as the salvo of missiles departs. The Type 123 is one of many varieties of circular-section pack intended for underwing mount-ing. Members of this family designed for relatively slow aircraft (Eper- vier, Skyraider, Harvard, T-28 and helicopters) are flat-nosed, but the123 is streamlined for use on such aircraft as the Super Mystere or Mirage. In several cases the pack forms the forward end of a tank.At present Matra are carrying out research into a wide variety of launching systems capable of rippling away large numbers of spin-stabilized rounds in air-to-air or air-to-surface roles, while the parent aircraft flies at any speed from zero up to Ml. Another project is theevolution of standardized pylons to carry and launch any external store. Products of Engins Matra: at the top of the page are seen the new R.530 and a pair of R.511sr all carried by Vautours; above the heading is an R.422 surface-to-air-missile on its mobile transporter/launcher at Colomb-Bechar, and the bottom pictures depict the Type 104 rocket launcher (left) and Type 123 (below)
Sign up to
Flight Digital Magazine
Flight Print Magazine
Airline Business Magazine
E-newsletters
RSS
Events
