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Aviation History
1983
1983 - 0228.PDF
WORLD MISSILE DIRECTORY 3 SURFACE- TO- SURFACE China Battlefield -support missiles Frog-type weapons carrying nuclear warheads are reported to have been deployed in large numbers near the Sino-Soviet bor der. France Aerospatial Pluton This Lance-class battlefield missile continues to serve with the French Army. The missile can carry alternative warheads; the ANSI, which contains the same 25kT nuclear charge as the AN52 bomb carried by Armee de I'Air Mirages and Jaguars as well as the Aeronavale Super Etendards; or a l5kT warhead for use against targets near the front line. No changes of status or modifications have been noted in recent years. Operator French Army (five regiments, each with six launchers). Israel Battlefield missiles Despite persistent reports that Israel has developed a long-range tactical missile with a nuclear warhead, there is still no evidence that such a weapon exists. South Korea In September 1978 South Korea test-fired a two-stage, surface-to-surface missile with a range of 100-16.0km. Mass production and deployment was expected to be gin soon afterwards, but has yet to be confirmed. The weapon seems to be a modification of the US Nike Hercules surface-to-air missile. Martin Marietta Pershing II as it will be deployed in Europe United States Martin Marietta MGM-31 Pershing II Pershing II, which will be more accurate than the present la model and will have more than twice its range, is in full-scale development under a $360 million contract and is scheduled to replace the 108 US Army Pershing las based in Germany. The missile is due to become operational in 1984. Flight-testing of five advanced-development rounds has been completed, but a series of failures has been experienced in full-scale development trials. West Germany will retain the Pershing la. A modified Patriot SAM was used for Assault Breaker tests 320 Pershing II carries a new terminally guided re-entry vehicle with Goodyear Radag (radar area guidance) to compare live radar returns from the target with stored images of the area. Control signals are then generated to manoeuvre the warhead, resulting in an accuracy that is independent of range. The increase in accuracy afforded by Radag allows low-yield nuclear warheads to be used, thus increasing the number of target types that can be attacked with Pershing II. The far greater maximum range extends the weapon's depth of en gagement. Other improvements include a reduction in support equipment and personnel, improved reaction time and better survivability. Earth-penetration war heads being developed for Pershing II will allow the missile to be used against underground command cen tres at depths of up to 30m. Operators (Pershing la) US 7th Army (four bat talions), Luftwaffe (two wings of four nine-missile squadrons each). Vought MGM-52C Lance Production of Lance has ended, more than 3,000 rounds having been built, al though the missile could form the basis of Assault Breaker or the Corps Support Weapon System (CSWS) being developed as a Lance successor (see entries). The US Army intends to procure W70-4 nuclear warheads for the weapon. These will offer the option to include enhanced-radiation "neutron bomb" per formance. Vought is now developing an Improved Lance which provides increased performance, is compatible with existing Lance equipment, and is designed for a series of planned improvements that can be implemented in stages to maintain system effectiveness into the 1990s. Featuring a solid rocket motor and a laser-gyro in- ertial guidance system, Improved Lance has three times the range, six times the accuracy, and 30 per cent more payload than its predecessor. Unit cost and per sonnel requirements are also reduced. The technology for Improved Lance and its inertial guidance system has been demonstrated in the SIG-D and Assault Breaker programmes. Growth capabilities include a launcher carrying three cannistered missiles which can be mounted on a wheeled, ten-ton truck with a standard cargo vehicle chassis. Operators US Army (eight battalions), Israeli De fence Forces Artillery Corps (130 missiles), Italian Army (one brigade), German Army (four battalions, 26 launchers, 175 missiles), British Army (four batteries operating three launchers each), Belgian Army (five launchers), Dutch Army (1st Army Corps). Vought Multiple Launch Rocket System MLRS is a battlefield artillery system using a tracked self- propelled launcher that can fire 12 rockets to a range of greater than 30km. Phase 1 MLRS rockets will each carry more than 600 M77 submunitions with about the same destruc tive power as a hand grenade and containing a shaped charge able to penetrate light armour. Phase 2, led by Germany, will use the German AT-2 anti-tank mine. Phase 3, still in the early development stage, will incorporate a number of improvements in cluding various submunitions and alternative forms of guidance. The Self-Propelled Launcher Loader, using the same chassis and running gear as the US Army's new Infantry Fighting Vehicle, can fire individual rounds or launch them in ripples of up to 12 rockets in less than a minute. The US Army is expected to buy a total of more than 360,000 rockets and 300-plus vehicle systems, with four European countries—Germany, France, and Britain—buying a further 200 or so vehicles and per haps 250,000 rounds; Germany, France, and the UK signed a memorandum of understanding in 1979, and Italy joined in 1982. All are now discussing how best to procure the system. MLRS will enter service with the US Army in early 1983 , and the programme for the US Services alone is expected to be worth $3,800 million. MLRS launch vehicles and rockets are now in pro duction at Vought's East Camden, Arkansas, plant. The first rockets were delivered to the US Army in May 1982; the first production launch vehicle was FLIGHT International, 5 February 1983
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