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Aviation History
1984
1984 - 0880.PDF
GERMANY'S AEROSPACE INDUSTRY Co-operating on the third generation Germany's already close co-operation with France on guided-weapon development and production is strengthening as so-called "third- generation" systems move from the drawing board to hardware testing. The foundation of Franco-German guided-weapon collaboration is Euro- missile, the Aerospatiale/MBB joint company responsible for the Roland low- level air-defence system as well as the Milan and Hot anti-tank missiles. All three types continue to sell well. Spain is the latest customer for Roland, while Italy is to licence-manufactudre Milan. Britain's licence-production of the man-portable Milan led to the formation of a trilateral organisation for the devel opment of ATGW 3 third-generation successors to Milan and Hot for intro duction in the early 1990s. Aerospatiale, MBB, and British Aerospace Dynamics have formed Euromissile Dynamics Group to develop new medium-range laser- heamriding and long-range fire-and-forget infrared-homing anti-tank weapons. ATGW 3 (PARS 3 in Germany) is currently in project definition. While Aerospatiale is responsible for the medium-range (2,000m) Milan replace ment for introduction in 1991/92, Britain and Germany share development of the long-range Hot successor for introduction in 1993/94, MBB taking responsibility for helicopter-launched ATGW 3 applica tions. Bodenseewerk Geratetechnik (BGT), with British Aerospace Dynamics and Thomson CSF, will develop the weapon's infrare'd seeker. MBB, with Aerospatiale, has begun private-venture concept definition of a lOkm-range indirect-attack anti-tank weapon known as LL-LFX (Lichtleiter- Lenkflugkorper). A fibreoptic link between the missile and its launcher transmits target images from a sensor in its nose back to the operator. This allows targets out of sight of the launcher to be detected, identified, and attacked remotely. MBB has demonstrated the feasibility of fibreoptic "wire guidance" using a Mamba anti-tank missile modified to carry a TV camera in the nose linked via fibreoptic cable to an operator's display. Replacing Hawk With the Air Force's short-range and long-range SAM requirements fulfilled, attention now focuses on a replacement for the medium-range Improved Hawk. As there is no US system available, Patriot replacing Hawk in the US Army, MBB, with Siemens and AEG-Telefunken, is MBB participated in this demonstration of the feasibility of submunition dispensing from a free-flying container using Brunswick's LAD low-altitude dispenser working on a 15-30km-range SAM system under the designation MFS-2000 (formerly FMS-90). Siemens is working on the monopulse multifunction (search, track, and midcourse guidance) phased-array radar, AEG-Telefunken on the active-radar missile seeker, and MBB on the solid-fuel, possibly vertical-launch, rocket-ramjet missile itself MFS-2000 is similar to France's SA-90 Hawk replacement now being studied by Aerospatiale and Thomson-CSF, and discussions have begun on merging the two requirements. The MW-1 submunition dispenser, deliveries of which begin this year to arm Luftwaffe Tornadoes, is regarded by MBB as a second-generation air-to-surface weapon. MW-1 is produced by RTG, a subsidiary of MBB and Diehl. For anti- armour missions the dispenser is filled with KB 44 antitank bomblets and Miff mines, while for anti-runway missions the dispenser houses Stabo runway pene- trators and Musa/Muspa area-denial mines. The four modules making up the 112-tube MW-1 are jettisoned when empty. MBB's "third-generation" MDS modu- The Luftwaffe has ordered 95 shelter-mounted extended-range Roland low-level air-defence systems, 27 to be deployed to defend three US airbases in Germany 1330 FLIGHT International, 19 May 1984
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