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Aviation History
1967
1967 - 2220.PDF
UGHT Internationa/, 16 November 1967 815 o an indicator in front of the fire con- rol officer. Bearing information from he sight is displayed with a gyro com- jass repeater ring so that it is directly elated to the vessel's heading. Because the launch angle is critical n pitch, an electrolytic delay switch is ncorporated in the firing system. This ielays the launch of the missile if the >ow is coming down, when the tail of he SS.12(M) could be touched by the 'rent of the launcher, and when the aunchers are below an elevation of 9° o the horizontal. Such conditions are ;enerally momentary. The delay switch lissipates the booster motor firing current f the right launching attitude is not cached in lOsec. Warning lamps tell the ire control officer when the pitch angle md heading are correct and if they are lashing he will select the delayed launch node. To understand the operation of the iS.12(M)/FPB weapon system one must ealise that the fire control officer is the nan in command. He is primarily esponsible for selecting the target, even vhen reported to him by the aimer, and or bringing the missile launchers on to he target ready for the launch. Although he aimer selects the individual weapon, ires it and guides it, the fire control >fficer selects the port or starboard group md chooses "delay" or "non-delay" iring, as well as having the delayed iring override button and the system safe" button under his hand. He also las remote control of the aimer's seat md monitors the aimer's actions by the ight relative-bearing indicator, compass ourse-and-bearing indicator and the ight-gyro-precession indicator. The lelmsman also has a sight-gyro-preces- ion indicator so that he can maintain leading within the firing requirement of tl° between the selected launcher and he sight line. riring The launching sequence for a missile s as follows. The fire control officer irders the helmsman to bring the head- ng of the port or starboard group of nissile launchers within the required 1° if the line-of-sight by altering course. ie then selects the group and chooses lelayed or non-delayed launching. The imer presses the firing button, which nitiates a current to fire the release artridge, this unlocks the missile, closes he launcher safety switch and current 'asses to fire the missile's powder gyro. tt 0.35sec the gyro uncages, the missile's •attery is activated and the missile's eternal circuits are live. At 0.7sec—if tare is no delay—the booster rocket nd trace flares fire and the missile is munched. If there is a delay beyondOs ec the fire control officer fires the weapon with his override button. The use of the SS.12(M) only becomes liveSe c after the sustainer motor is fired, o that there could be no danger from he round falling into the sea near the oat. At launch the missile is unguided until has been gathered by the aimer. While athering, the sight is at low magnifica- °n (X2.5) and a light ring in the right eyepiece shows the high magnification (xlO) field of view. When the missile has been brought into this it is gathered and under control and the aimer switches over to high magnification. At this stage the sight will automatically compensate for movements up to ±25° in yaw and ±30° in pitch. In practice, what happens is that the aimer concentrates on keep- ing the missile on target, flying it with his joystick. As the vessel is turned away the sight gyro precesses and the fire control officer, using his sight-gyro- precession indicator, turns the turret to keep the sight approximately centred within its wide stabilised arc of 50°. Beyond this the aimer's seat, with the sight head, must be trained and it is possible to make a prolonged turn away at up to 7°/sec—in practice 3-4°/sec would be the average manoeuvrability of a FPB at speed. So long as the missile is being guided a red lamp burns and goes out only when the firing switch is re-set to zero for the next round. At the end of the flight the aimer also has to press the wire-jettison button, which fires two squibs in the missile junction box on the launcher to sever the signal wire. One of the virtues of this SS.12(M) system is that it is compatible with the SS.ll, so that training can be carried out with missiles of similar characteris- Left, an SS.I2(M) an instant after launching from an FPB and, below, the launch arrangements in an FPB with, in the foreground, an SS.I2(M) and the earlier SS.ll beside it. The latter, which is only one-third the price of the SS.I2(M), is fully compatible with the Nord/Vosper system for training purposes tics and only one-third of the price. One photograph shows the effect of a SS.12(M) round fired into the foc'sle of a corvette, which was set on fire and put into a sinking condition. The Nord/ Vosper system has already been success- fully fired at 40kt in force 4 weather. Some of the technical details of the SS.12(M) as a weapon are interesting. The minimum range is 900yd, the maxi- mum tactical range 6,000yd, where the possible CEP is 6ft radius. Since the missile is under power throughout its half-minute (max) flight, penetration is the same at all ranges. On trials the war- head has detonated after penetrating five steel plates totalling 40mm (1.57in) set 400mm (15.7in) apart thus: one 10mm 51 tons/sq in armour plate, two 10mm and two 5mm mild steel plates. SS.I2(M) Data Length Body dia ...Warhead dia Span Weight at launch, body . warhetotal . Containers, warhead weight motor body. weightLaunch acceleration Sustained velocity Max time of flightboost phase Range, min striking max theoretical . max tactical Detonation point... id 73.27in 7.08in 8.27in .--'-• . ..-•. 25.59in 1051b 631b 1681b 3l.linx I3.7inx I5.35in 1101b 57.08inxl8.66in XI 5.55ir> 2201b 9g 66Oft/sec 32sec l.8sec 2,700ft 19,800ft 18,000ft 6ft after impact Mora Defence news ov rliaf
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