Dornier target presentation systems
Dornier Aerial Target Systems (DATS) was a division of the former Dornier works .
history
The special constructions department was domiciled in a former villa of the company's founder, Claude Dornier , on Lake Constance .
In addition to the development, manufacture and testing of aircraft , engineers from the Dornier works were also involved in the development of small flying systems that could be used to represent targets for air defense systems (weapon systems for air defense ).
Two fundamentally different paths were taken:
Manned target display
The air defense system understands the manned target display to mean the simulation of flying targets using objects that are towed by aircraft (often also called towed targets or towed objects). Here, aerodynamically stable flying bodies are pulled (towed) on long ropes behind manned aircraft. When the manned aircraft has flown past the respective weapon position, the anti-aircraft defense (soldier or weapon system) aims at the towed body for target training and / or a sharp shot.
Unmanned target presentation
Accordingly, the use of all target bodies that move independently or remotely or ballistically is classified as unmanned target display, e.g. B. unmanned aircraft / helicopters ( target display drones , UATS = Unmanned Aerial Target Systems) or rocket projectiles (TBM = Tactical Ballistic Missile). The UATS or TBM are catapulted into the air by launch devices and then fly into the airspace of the target area on previously determined flight path profiles. The air defense then tries to capture the target body (visual, infrared, radar), track it and shoot it. Combinations of towed targets with unmanned aerial vehicles represent a special case. This is the case, for example, when a target display drone pulls a simpler towed vehicle behind it than the target actually to be attacked.
The entry of the Dornier engineers into the concrete development of target display systems began around 1965 as a subcontractor on the NATO Missile Firing Installation (NAMFI). In cooperation with local companies, Dornier employees handled the operation of drones and manned airplanes with towed vehicles for displaying flight targets.
Little by little, the company's own towed bodies (SK series or DATS series) emerged, like the DS-SK3 z. B. were pulled on a rope by the Target drone Beech 1025.
Military aircraft of the German Air Force (Starfighter) and the Greek Air Force (T33) pulled the decoys on NAMFI or in Todendorf past positions of 20 mm anti-aircraft guns.
As development progressed, the standard towed body for training air-to-air combat with guns was created as the SK10.
Products
Manned target presentation products
- DATS1 to DATS5
- SK1 to SK10
- Tow bags
- SK6 with BSH
- SETA family
Unmanned target display products
Web links
swell
- DORNIER: The chronicle of the oldest German aircraft factory , ISBN 3-925505-01-6
- Marketing brochure target presentation systems , Dornier GmbH, 1996