Misplaced Pages

#870129

35-415: The SLAM-ER can be remotely controlled while in flight, and it can be redirected to another target after launch if the original target has already been destroyed, or is no longer considered to be dangerous ( command guidance ). The SLAM-ER is a very accurate weapon; as of 2009 it had the best circular error probable (CEP) of any missile used by the U.S. Navy . In 1999, Boeing and the U.S. Navy conducted

70-423: A detonation signal. On some systems there is a dedicated radio antenna or antennas to communicate with a missile. On others, the radar can send coded pulses which a missile can sense and interpret as guidance commands. Sometimes to aid the tracking station, a missile will contain a radio transmitter, making it easier to track. Also, sometimes a tracking station has two or more radar antennas: one dedicated to track

105-498: A far smaller warhead to destroy these, it could be much smaller than the V-2, about 1 ⁄ 4 the size. The Wasserfall design also included an additional set of fins located at the middle of the fuselage to provide extra maneuvering capability. Steering during the launch phase was accomplished by four graphite rudders placed in the exhaust stream of the combustion chamber, as in the V-2, but once high airspeeds had been attained this

140-615: A live fire of a SLAM-ER from an F/A-18 Hornet on the decommissioned USS Dale (CG-19) off the coast of Puerto Rico . The SLAM-ER obtained initial operating capability in June 2000. A total of three SLAM-ER missiles were fired by the U.S. Navy during the Iraq War , and the missile was also used during Operation Enduring Freedom in Afghanistan . The General Electric Company provides an Automatic Target Recognition Unit (ATRU) for

175-568: A major setback occurred in August 1943 when Dr. Walter Thiel was killed during the Operation Hydra bombings, the start of the Allied campaign against German V-weapons including V-2 production. After the first successful firing (the third prototype) on 8 March 1944, three Wasserfall trial launches were completed by the end of June 1944. A launch on 8 January 1945 was a failure, with

210-400: A missile and one or more dedicated to track targets. These types of systems are most likely to be able to communicate with a missile via the same radar energy used to track it. The CLOS system uses only the angular coordinates between the missile and the target to ensure the collision. The missile is made to be in the line of sight between the launcher and the target (LOS), and any deviation of

245-459: A proposal was put to Congress to allow the sale of the SLAM-ER to Taiwan . Command guidance Command guidance is a type of missile guidance in which a ground station or aircraft relay signals to a guided missile via radio control or through a wire connecting the missile to the launcher and tell the missile where to steer to intercept its target. This control may also command

280-603: A variety of aircraft including the F/A-18 Hornet , F/A-18 Super Hornet , F-16 Block 50+ and P-3C Orion , as well as by some F-15E Strike Eagle . The S-3B Viking was also able to launch and control the SLAM-ER. The South Korean Air Force 's version of the F-15E Strike Eagle, the F-15K Slam Eagle, has been capable of launching and controlling the SLAM-ER since 2006 in test exercises. In 2020,

315-522: Is aimed at a target and detectors on the rear of the missile keep it centered in the beam. Beam riding systems are often SACLOS , but do not need to be; in other systems the beam is part of an automated radar tracking system. An example is later versions of the RIM-8 Talos missile as used in Vietnam: the radar beam was used to take the missile on a high arcing flight and then gradually brought down in

350-461: Is automatic. Is similar to MCLOS but some automatic system positions the missile in the line of sight while the operator simply tracks the target. SACLOS has the advantage of allowing the missile to start in a position invisible to the user, and is generally far easier to operate. SACLOS is the most common form of guidance against ground targets such as tanks and bunkers. Target tracking, missile tracking and control are automatic. This guidance system

385-457: Is controlled to stay as close as possible on the LOS to the target. More specifically, if the beam acceleration is taken into account and added to the nominal acceleration generated by the beam-rider equations, then CLOS guidance results. Thus, the beam rider acceleration command is modified to include an extra term. The beam-riding performance described above can thus be significantly improved by taking

SECTION 10

#1732781112871

420-506: Is distance. To make it possible, both target and missile trackers have to be active. They are always automatic and the radar has been used as the only sensor in these systems. The SM-2MR Standard is inertially guided during its mid-course phase, but it is assisted by a COLOS system via radar link provided by the AN/SPY-1 radar installed in the launching platform. LOSBR uses a beam of some sort, typically radio , radar or laser , which

455-432: Is not required. MCLOS is a subtype of command guided systems. In the case of glide bombs or missiles against ships or the supersonic Wasserfall against slow-moving B-17 Flying Fortress bombers this system worked, but as speeds increased MCLOS was quickly rendered useless for most roles. Target tracking is automatic, while missile tracking and control is manual. Target tracking is manual, but missile tracking and control

490-423: Is that the missile sends target tracking information back to the guidance system to aid it to calculate an intercept. This negates much of the accuracy disadvantage of pure command guidance. Examples of missiles which use command guidance include: Older western missiles tend to use pure semi-active radar homing . Pure command guidance is not normally used in modern surface-to-air missile (SAM) systems since it

525-426: Is too inaccurate during the terminal phase, when a missile is about to intercept a target. This is because the ground-based radars are distant from the target and the returned signal lacks resolution. However, it is still quite practical to use it to guide a missile to a location near a target, and then use another more accurate guidance method to intercept the target. Almost any type of terminal guidance can be used, but

560-558: The Allied bomber fleets. Speer, Germany's Reich Minister of Armaments and War Production , later claimed: To this day, I am convinced that substantial deployment of Wasserfall from the spring of 1944 onward, together with an uncompromising use of the jet fighters as air defense interceptors, would have essentially stalled the Allied strategic bombing offensive against our industry. We would have well been able to do that – after all, we managed to manufacture 900 V-2 rockets per month at

595-420: The SLAM-ER that processes prelaunch and postlaunch targeting data, allows high speed video comparison ( DSMAC ), and enables the SLAM-ER to be used in a true " fire and forget " manner. It also includes a " man-in-the-loop " mode, where the pilot or weapons system officer can designate the point of impact precisely, even if the target has no distinguishing infrared signature . It can be launched and controlled by

630-432: The beam motion into account. CLOS guidance is used mostly in shortrange air defense and antitank systems. Both target tracking and missile tracking and control are performed manually. The operator watches the missile flight, and uses a signaling system to command the missile back into the straight line between operator and target (the "line of sight"). This is typically useful only for slower targets, where significant "lead"

665-410: The direction needed to maneuver to an intercept course with the target. If the target maneuvers, the guidance system can sense this and update the missiles' course continuously to counteract such maneuvering. If the missile passes close to the target, either its own proximity or contact fuze will detonate the warhead, or the guidance system can estimate when the missile will pass near a target and send

700-592: The engine "fizzling" and launching the missile to only 7 km of altitude at subsonic speeds. The following February saw a successful launch which reached a supersonic speed of 770 m/s (2,800 km/h) in vertical flight. Thirty-five Wasserfall trial firings had been completed by the time Peenemünde was evacuated on 17 February 1945. The Bäckebo rocket , a V-2 rocket using Wasserfall radio guidance, crashed in Sweden on 13 June 1944. According to Albert Speer and Carl Krauch it could have devastated

735-431: The inherent weakness of inaccuracy with increasing range as the beam spreads out. Laser beam riders are more accurate because beams of lasers spread less than of radars, but are all short-range, and a laser can be degraded by bad weather. In contrast, SARH becomes more accurate with decreasing distance to a target, so the two systems are complementary. Track-via-missile is a variant of command guidance. The main difference

SECTION 20

#1732781112871

770-401: The missile from this line is corrected. Since so many types of missile use this guidance system, they are usually subdivided into four groups: A particular type of command guidance and navigation where the missile is always to commanded lie on the line of sight (LOS) between the tracking unit and the aircraft is known as command to line of sight (CLOS) or three-point guidance. That is, the missile

805-462: The missile into the tracking radar beam as soon as possible after launch, using a radio direction finder and the transponder to locate it. Once it entered the radar beam the transponder responded to the radar signals and created a strong blip on the display. The operator then used the joystick to guide the missile so that the blips overlapped. The original design had called for a 100 kg (220 lb) warhead , but because of accuracy concerns it

840-415: The missile to detonate, even if the missile has a fuze . Typically, the system giving the guidance commands is tracking both the target and the missile or missiles via radar . It determines the positions and velocities of a target and a missile, and calculates whether their paths will intersect. If not, the guidance system will relay commands to a missile, telling it to move the fins in a way that steers in

875-448: The missile using a modified version of the FuG 203/FuG 230 "Kehl-Straßburg" (code name Burgund ) radio-guidance system that used a joystick. Originally developed for anti-ship missiles dropped by bombers, it was used to direct both the unpowered Fritz X and rocket-boosted Henschel Hs 293 . For the anti-aircraft role, the controller was mounted beside a chair on a framework that allowed

910-462: The most common are semi-active radar homing (SARH) or active radar homing (ARH). Examples of missiles which use command guidance with terminal SARH include: Examples of missiles which use command guidance with terminal ARH include: Wasserfall The Wasserfall Ferngelenkte FlaRakete ("Waterfall remote-controlled anti-aircraft rocket" ) was a German guided supersonic surface-to-air missile project of World War II . Development

945-444: The operator to tilt back to easily look at targets above him, rotating as needed to keep the target in sight. Night-time use was considerably more complex because neither the target nor the missile would be easily visible. For this role a new system known as Rheinland was under development. Rheinland used a radar unit for tracking the target and a transponder in the missile for locating it in flight. A simple analog computer guided

980-403: The operator to visually determine when the rocket was close to a target that was directly above it. A radar -aided system was still under development and not ready for operational use. Wasserfall was essentially an anti-aircraft development of the V-2 rocket, sharing the same general layout and shaping. Since the missile had to fly only to the altitudes of the attacking bombers, and needed

1015-399: The steerable rocket motor exhaust. Among the many development problems, control of the high-speed rocket was a significant concern, leading to the development of a radio control system where the operator sat in a reclining chair so he could see the target as it passed overhead. Another significant problem was the lack of a suitable proximity fuse , which was required as there was no way for

1050-445: The vertical plane of the target aircraft, the more accurate semi-active radar homing (SARH) being used at the last moment for the terminal homing and strike. This gave an enemy pilot the least possible warning that the aircraft was being illuminated by missile guidance radar, in contrast to search radar. This is an important distinction, as the properties of the signal differ, and are used as a cue for evasive action. LOSBR suffers from

1085-474: Was accomplished by four air rudders mounted on the rocket tail. Unlike the V-2, Wasserfall was designed to stand ready for periods of up to a month and fire on command, therefore the volatile liquid oxygen used in the V-2 was inappropriate. A new engine design, developed by Dr. Walter Thiel , was based on Visol (vinyl isobutyl ether) and SV-Stoff or red fuming nitric acid (RFNA), (94% nitric acid , 6% dinitrogen tetroxide ). This hypergolic mixture

AGM-84H/K SLAM-ER - Misplaced Pages Continue

1120-422: Was forced into the combustion chamber by pressurising the fuel tanks with nitrogen gas released from another tank. Wasserfall was to be launched from rocket bases (code-named Vesuvius ) that could tolerate leaked hypergolic fuels in the event of a launch problem. Guidance was to be a simple radio control manual command to line of sight (MCLOS) system for use against daytime targets. Commands were sent to

1155-502: Was not completed before the end of the war and it was not used operationally. The system was based on many of the technologies developed for the V-2 rocket program, including the rocket itself, which was essentially a much scaled-down version of the V-2 airframe. The rocket motor used new fuels as it was expected to be stored in ready-to-fire form for months, and the guidance system used external fins for control instead of relying entirely on

1190-466: Was one of the first to be used and still is in service, mainly in anti-aircraft missiles. In this system, the target tracker and the missile tracker can be oriented in different directions. The guidance system ensures the interception of the target by the missile by locating both in space. This means that they will not rely on the angular coordinates like in CLOS systems. They will need another coordinate which

1225-529: Was replaced with a much larger one of 306 kilograms (675 lb), based on a liquid explosive. The idea was to create a large blast area effect amidst the enemy bomber stream, which would conceivably bring down several airplanes for each missile deployed. For daytime use the operator would detonate the warhead by remote control. Conceptual work began in 1941, and final specifications were defined on 2 November 1942. The first models were being tested in March 1943, but

#870129