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Aviation History
1983
1983 - 0232.PDF
WORLD MISSILE DIRECTORY China CSS-N-1 Before the breakdown of Sino-Soviet relations, a number of Styx-armed Komar and Osa- class missile boats were transferred to China, and production lines for both boats and missiles have been set up there. The Chinese version of Styx has also been fitted to some of the larger Chinese warships and is probably in widespread use as a coastal-defence weapon. Operators China (12 Luda-class destroyers, 4 Anshan-class destroyers, 8 Jianghu-class frigates, 4 Chengdu-class frigates, 112 Osa II, 1 Hola-class, 2 Komar and 9 Hegu-class missile boats, and 1 Hema- class hydrofoil). Albania 4 Hegu-class missile boats). New missile The new Hai Dua class of missile boats is reported to carry six anti-ship missiles of a new type but this has not yet been confirmed. France Aerospatiale Exocet More than 2,000 rounds have now been orederedby a total of 27 customers. The use of Exocet during the Falklands War gave the weapon much publicity, but revealed some shortcomings in the missile. Test vessels hit by Exocet have shown signs of large-scale blast damage, but the relatively modest size of the openings made in British warships hit by the MM.38 and AM.39 tends to confirm the Royal Navy's belief that on some occasions missile warheads failed to detonate. Missiles were decoyed from their original targets by a combination of chaff and active jamming, and Aerospatiale is reported to have begun work on improvements to the seeker head to improve re sistance to ECM. MM.38 Most commonly deployed Exocet version is the MM.38, now ordered by 18 nations. More than 150 evaluation rounds have been fired, scoring a hit rate of 93 per cent. Operators France (helicopter carrier Jeanne d'Arc, cruiser Colbert, 2 Suffren-class destroyers, 1 T53 destroyer, three F67-class frigates, 8 Commandant Rieviere-class frigates, destroyer Duperre, 24 C70 frigates, 1 Aconit corvette, and 14 A69 avisos), Argentina (2 Type 42, 1 Gearing-class and two Allen B. Sumner-class destroyers, and 2 A69 corvettes), Belgium (4 E-71-class frigates), Brazil (2 Niteroi-class destroyers), Brunei (3 Waspada-class missile boats), Chile (1 Type 42 destroyer, 2 Aimirante-class de stroyers, and 2 Leander-class frigates), Ecuador (3 TNC45 missile boats), West Germany (4 Hamburg- class destroyers, 10 Type 143, three Type 143A and 20 Type 148 missile boats), Greece (10 La Combattante II and 10 La. Combattante III missile boats), Indonesia (3 frigates, and 4 Tacoma-class PSMM), Malaysia (4 Spica-class and 4 Perdana-class missile boats), Morocco (4 Cormoran-class missile boats), Nigeria (3 La Combattante IIIB-class missile boats), Oman (2 missile boats), Peru (2 Palacios-class destroyers, and 6 PR72P missile boats), Philippines (on order for 3 PSMM Mk 6), Thailand (3 Breda missile boats), United Kingdom (four County-class cruisers, 18 Leander-class frigates, six Type 21 frigates, and four Type 22 frigates. MM.40 Improvements to the sustainer rocket motor have allowed Aerospatiale to increase the range of the MM.40 to 70km, while the use of a lighter pattern of launch container allows vessels to carry a larger num- 326 ber of rounds for the same space and weight. MM.40 is now in full production. In the coastal-defence version, four glassfibre launch containers are mounted on a six wheeled lorry. Operators Argentina (on order for 4 Meko 360 destroyers, and 6 Meko 140 frigates), Colombia (FS1500 corvettes), Ecuador (3 CNR corvettes), France (on order for 1 Aconit-class frigate), Morocco (on order for 1 modified Descubierta-class frigate), Oman (1 Province-class missile boat,), Qatar (3 La Combattante IIIM missile boats and 3 coastal bat teries), Tunisia (3 La Combattante III missile boats), United Arab Emirates (6 TNC45 missile boats). AM.39 Deliveries of operational air-launched Exocet hardware began in 1977. Aircraft may launch the weapon at any altitude from 50m up to normal oper ating ceiling, but missile range—nominally 50-70km—depends on speed and altitude at launch. In addition to the Super Etendard and Mirage 111/5, po tential AM.39 carriers include the Super Frelon Sea King and Super Puma helicopters, and the Atlantic G2 maritime-patrol aircraft. Drop tests were conducted from the prototype Atlantic G2, and flight trials have probably begun. The aircraft carries the missile on two hardpoints in the weapons bay. Peru and one unidentified customer, believed to be Libya, are reported to have Mirage fighters equipped to launch the AM.39. The designation AM.38 has been reported for helicopter-mounted versions. Operators Argentina (Super Etendard-one round), France (Super Etendard-one round), Iraq (Super Frelon-two rounds), Libya? (Mirage?), Pakistan (Sea King-two missiles), Peru (Mirage-one round), plus three other nations. SM.39 A succesor to the proposed SM.38 submarine- launched version promoted in the mid-1970s, SM.39 is being developed to arm French nuclear and conventionally-powered submarines. Test firings have already begun. At launch, the round is encased in a 5--80m-long capsule weighing 1,350kg. It is launched from a normal torpedo tube, and a solid propellant rocket booster ignites once the capsule has travelled a short distance from the vessel. Under the control of the missile's on-board inertial guidance unit, the round heads for the surface. The capsule nose cap is jettisoned when the surface is broached, and pressure from a gas generator ejects the missile. The aerodynamic surfaces then unfold and the boost motor is ignited. To minimise the risks of detection the missile quickly descends to its normal cruise altitude of around 15m. Maximum altitude at the peak of the post-launch boost manoeuvre is less than 50m. The SSN fleet will probably have priority when the missile becomes available, but the convention ally- powered Agosta-class vessels will probably be equipped with SM.39 at a later date. Exports are not likely in the near future and will probably be confined to Nato nations. Aerospatiale AS.15TT Test firing of this low-cost command-guided missile began last summer, and the first launches from a Dauphin helicopter were ex pected late last year. AS.15TT is intended to replace the wire-guided AS.12 missile. Azimuth guidance is by radio command. Missile and target are tracked by a Thomson-CSF Agrion 15 radar in the launch helicopter, commands to the missile being sent as a modulation superimposed on the radar beam. Cruise height is normally 3-5m above the sea surface and is maintained by a radar altimeter in the missile. Agrion incorporates a datalink which allows the equipment to transmit target co-ordinates to surface- launched Exocet missiles. Saudi Arabia plans to oper ate the long-range Oto Melara Otomat, and the radars on its Aerospatiale AS.365F Dauphin 2 will permit over-the-horizon targeting for the ship-launched weapon. Shop-mounted and coastal-defence versions of AS.15TT have been proposed. Operator Saudi Arabia (on order to arm 20 AS.365F Dauphin helicopters). Germany MBB Kormoran Development of the Mk 2 version for the German Navy has begun. This is expected to have an improved guidance seeker with better ECM resistance, longer range, and a larger warhead. Operators (Mkl) German Navy (350 missiles to arm the F-104G and Tornado), Italy (60 missiles to arm Tornado). Dummy Aerospatiale Exocets on a Super Puma naval helicopter FLIGHT International, 5 February 1983
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