AIM-132 ASRAAM
| ASRAAM | |
|---|---|
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| General Information | |
| Type | Air-to-air missile |
| Manufacturer | MBDA |
| development | 1984–1989 (EU) 1989–1998 (GB) |
| Commissioning | 1998 |
| Unit price | 200,000 USD |
| Technical specifications | |
| length | 2.9 m |
| diameter | 166 mm |
| Combat weight | 88 kg |
| span | 450 mm |
| drive | Solid motor |
| speed | Mach 3 (official) |
| Range | 15 km (official) |
| Furnishing | |
| Target location | Infrared seeker |
| Warhead | 10 kg |
| Detonator | Laser proximity and impact detonators |
| Weapon platforms | • Eurofighter • F-35 Lightning II • F / A-18E / F Super Hornet • Panavia Tornado • AV-8B Harrier II |
| Lists on the subject | |
The AIM-132 ASRAAM ( Advanced Short Range Air-to-Air-Missile ; German advanced short-range air-to-air missile ) is a development of the armaments company MBDA . It is intended to replace the AIM-9 Sidewinder in the armed forces of Great Britain and Australia.
history
In the late 1980s, a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) was signed between European states and the United States on future air-to-air guided missiles to replace the AIM-7 Sparrow and AIM-9 Sidewinder . The Europeans should develop a guided weapon for combat distances within the visual range of the pilot ( WVR ), while the US was awarded the development of a radar-guided weapon for long distances ( English beyond visual range, BVR ). The weapons were called "Advanced Short Range Air-to-Air Missile" and " Advanced Medium Range Air-to-Air Missile ". The Europeans divided the tasks and development costs as follows, including Canada:
- 42.5% UK
- 42.5% Germany
- 10% Canada
- 5% Norway
The definition phase of the program began in 1984. In February 1988, the United States initiated a series of design changes, but lost interest in the program with the collapse of the Soviet Union . Exactly one year later, in February 1989, the project was nearing completion. In the course of the reunification , Germany came into possession of the MiG-29 including missiles of the type AA-11 Archer . The AA-11 turned out to be far more powerful than was thought before the fall of the Iron Curtain. It was far superior to its western counterpart at the time, the AIM-9L / M, in all parameters. Particularly outstanding were the large range and maneuverability as well as the ability to capture targets up to 45 ° away from the flight axis ( off-boresight ). Since the ASRAAM operational concept was no longer considered up to date, Germany withdrew from the project in July 1989. Similar considerations led other countries to withdraw from the project and to develop their own missiles, where maneuverability in close combat was more important than range and speed. This resulted in the development of IRIS-T and AIM-9X .
Great Britain was now developing the missile on its own, and the contracts were awarded as early as August 1989. The Hughes Santa Barbara Research Center was awarded the contract for the viewfinder. An evaluation of the offers and the award of the 912 million US dollar contract took place in early 1992. Development began in March of that year and in May 1994 the supply contracts were signed. From January 1995 to June 1996 the USA tested the weapon and came to the conclusion that it could not meet its requirements in terms of maneuverability and further developed the Sidewinder. The first ASRAAM was delivered to the Royal Air Force in late 1998 .
concept
The ASRAAM is an unusual missile. Similar to the AIM-95 Agile , a significant increase in the firing distance ( term : F-Pole ) was the main development goal. Opposing aircraft are supposed to be destroyed on approach ( pre-merge ) before there is a fight in a curve. The basic idea behind it is that the first shooter has the greatest chance of winning. If it is not possible to destroy the enemy at a distance, the missile must have good performance in close combat. The increase in maneuverability for close combat was, compared to the Sidewinder, a secondary development goal, although here too improvements were achieved thanks to the much more powerful rocket motor and the low-drag missile.
Due to its high effective range and the ability to capture a target only after take-off, the ASRAAM can also be regarded as a medium-range air-to-air missile with a short range. As a result, the guided missile can also be fired at a target out of sight of the pilot. The navigation during the flight phase is then carried out by an inertial navigation system to which the current position and course of the target is transmitted from the carrier platform shortly before the rocket is launched. When the ASRAAM arrives in the target area, it activates its infrared seeker, searches for the target, switches it on and destroys it ( lock-on after launch, LOAL ). In conjunction with a helmet visor or the Distributed Aperture System , this also enables targets behind the firing aircraft to be attacked ( over-the-shoulder capability ). This was first demonstrated in March 2009 by the Royal Australian Air Force with a Super Hornet .
The AIM-132 ASRAAM is the only short-range weapon that can be carried internally by an F-35 Lightning II . Other weapons such as the Sidewinder can only be carried externally, which, however, worsens the stealth properties. Since the maneuverability of the machine is comparable to an F-16 Fighting Falcon and the B and C versions do not have a gun, the ability to pre-merge the enemy on approach makes sense.
(In combination with infrared-based target search and target tracking Engl. Infrared search and track ) as PIRATE or the Distributed Aperture System can use the weapon and aircraft with stealth characteristics out of sight of the pilot to be fought.
technology
Due to the requirement for the greatest possible launch distance, the missile was designed with as little resistance as possible. Only the unavoidable control surfaces at the end of the rocket disturb the aerodynamics. The appearance of the AIM-132 ASRAAM is thus similar to that of the AIM-95 Agile , the latter being equipped with thrust vector control . Since ASRAAM focused on increasing the firing distance, this was not done for the time being; a version called P3I-ASRAAM is offered with thrust vector control. The elimination of wings has advantages and disadvantages: range and speed are increased, but at the expense of maneuverability. Highly maneuverable missiles like the IRIS-T can fly up to 60 g curves , while the ASRAAM can "only" pull up to 50 g . Especially in the boost phase, when the missile accelerates from the launch track, the high mass causes poor turn rates. This was also a point of criticism during the tests in the United States, where the poor turning ability immediately after take-off ( engl. Off-axis capability ) was the decisive factor in favor of the AIM-9X. Retrofitting with thrust vector control solves the problem only to a limited extent: the turning ability can be improved, but due to the lack of wings, the guided weapon loses a lot of energy. The disadvantage compared to other weapons remains.
The guided missile basically consists of three parts: viewfinder and electronics, warhead and drive. The AIM-9X and the ASRAAM use the same imaging infrared seeker head developed by Raytheon . It is a focal plane array with 128 × 128 elements. The component is manufactured as an indium-antimony die and is sensitive in the wavelength range from 0.5 µm to 5.4 µm. The chip is cooled down to around 80 Kelvin (−193 ° C) during use. The high resolution makes countermeasures much more difficult; thanks to the intelligent image processing, the rocket is able to “see” the target and can distinguish it from flares . The viewfinder is gimbaled and has a boresight of up to 90 °. In this way, targets that are next to one's own aircraft could also be activated by the guided missile before take-off. The electronics consist, among other things, of acceleration sensors and laser gyroscopes to calculate the position of the rocket in space for all three axes. There are also ASICs for the image processing of the seeker head and the steering algorithm; the software for this was written in Ada . The rifle's fragmentation warhead is manufactured by the Gesellschaft für v Defensestechnische Wirksysteme mbH and weighs 10 kg. Despite the high precision, which usually leads to a direct hit on the target ( hittile ), the impact fuse was supplemented by a laser proximity fuse. The solid rocket engine accelerates the rocket with a strong boost when it separates from the aircraft. After a short period of time, the motor continues to burn down to the end with less thrust in sustainer mode . In contrast to conventional designs that are machined , the rocket motor is made of laminated steel sheets to reduce weight and increase the fuel mass fraction. At 166 mm, the diameter is significantly larger than that of the old Sidewinder, which has 127 mm. It is therefore more comparable to an AA-11 Archer (170 mm) or MICA (160 mm). The larger diameter makes it possible to carry 70% more propellant along the same length in order to increase speed and range.
The ASRAAM is delivered assembled in a hermetically sealed container and remains there maintenance-free. If necessary, it can simply be removed from the container and mounted on the aircraft without any further preparation. For reasons of downward compatibility, the weapon has not only a digital, but also an analogue interface to the aircraft. This means that the weapon can also be used on older aircraft models.
Technical specifications
The official information differs greatly from the purpose of the weapon. If a MICA from the same manufacturer, which is similar in terms of application, is used for comparison, the performance data can be roughly estimated. The weight of the ASRAAM is officially stated as 88 kg, which corresponds to the weight of a Sidewinder missile, although the weapon has 63% more volume. The weight stated in some sources of 100 kg is therefore much more realistic and is about 10% below that of a MICA. The ASRAAM has 94% of the volume of a MICA and is built with less resistance , so the range will be similar. According to MBDA, the weapon is the fastest short-range air-to-air missile, which can be proven by the low air resistance and large engine diameter. The speed of Mach 4 mentioned in the magazine Truppendienst is therefore realistic. The following data can be estimated:
- Takeoff weight: 100 kg
- Minimum range: 300 m
- Maximum range: 50 km
- Top speed: Mach 4
User states
Web links
- ausairpower.net: Matra-BAe AIM-132 ASRAAM - The RAAF's New WVR AAM
- MBDA: Advanced Short-Range Air-to-Air Missile
- typhoon.starstreak.net: MBDA ASRAAM (AIM-132)
Individual evidence
- ↑ YourIndustryNews: RAAF has successfully fired ASRAAM at a target located behind the wing-line of the 'shooter' aircraft
- ↑ defense update: Australian ASRAAM Demonstrate Full Sphere Capability ( memento of the original from October 20, 2016 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was automatically inserted and not yet checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.
- ↑ Globalsecurity.org: Maneuverability characteristics are similar to those of the F-16, with comparable instantaneous and sustained 'High-G' performance
- ↑ armedforces.co.uk: Advanced Short-Range Air-to-Air Missile (ASRAAM)
- ^ Troop service: The Eurofighter "Typhoon" (IV). Mission roles and armament.
