Vought ASM-135 ASAT
| Vought ASM-135 ASAT | |
|---|---|
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| General Information | |
| Type | Anti-satellite missile |
| NATO designation | ASM-135 ASAT |
| Country of origin |
 United States
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| Manufacturer | Vought |
| development | 1979 |
| Commissioning | Project ended in 1988 |
| Technical specifications | |
| length | 5.18 m |
| diameter | 510 mm |
| Combat weight | 1,180 kg |
| Drive First stage Second stage |
Solid rocket Lockheed Propulsion Co. SR75-LP-1 solid rocket Vought Altair III; 27.4 kN for 27 s |
| speed | 24,000 km / h |
| Range | 648 km |
| Service ceiling | 560 km |
| Furnishing | |
| steering | Inertial navigation platform |
| Target location | Passive IR target search |
| Warhead | 60 kg Miniature Homing Vehicle (MHV) |
| Weapon platforms | F-15 Eagle |
| Lists on the subject | |
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The Vought ASM-135 ASAT (ASAT stands for anti-satellite) was an American anti-satellite missile .
Idea, concept and development
Development began in 1977 after the Soviet Union developed a killer satellite and tested it in multiple tests. In the event of war with the Soviet Union, the US Air Force wanted to be able to fight satellites flying in low earth orbit . The concept was to arm an F-15 with an ASAT and to fire it after a climb at an altitude of 26 km. Development effort and costs were thus significantly lower than for a rocket launched from the ground, such as the Thor that was later used briefly as an ASAT .
In 1979 the development contract was signed with Vought , in 1983 the first tests began, and in 1985 the first test flight of an ASAT took place. The ASAT had an AGM-69 SRAM as the first stage and a Vought Altair III as the second stage (the fourth stage of a Vought Scout B ). The on-board computer and the heads-up display of the F-15 had to be modified in order to be able to fire the weapon.
To destroy a satellite, the ASAT used an MHV (Miniature Homing Vehicle) as the top level, with which the target was approached in the final phase. In such a 'kill vehicle', the target is not destroyed by a warhead, but solely by the kinetic energy of the impact. Hitting a satellite is much easier than that of an ICBM , since a satellite always traces the same, precisely predictable path in the sky.
The first test launch of a satellite was carried out on September 13, 1985: The solar observatory satellite "P78-1 SolWind", which had exceeded its lifetime, was destroyed at an altitude of 555 km.
The Air Force planned to procure 112 ASAT missiles and twenty F-15s were to be converted. In connection with the SDI initiative, the ASAT technology once again attracted attention. In 1988 the program was discontinued because the missile would violate contracts for the military use of space.
The use of the weapon is described by thriller author Tom Clancy in his novel Im Sturm .
Web links
- The F-15 ASAT story (English)
- ASM-135 ASAT official history (English)
- ASAT in the Encyclopedia Astronautica (English)
Individual evidence
- ^ Sven Grahn: Simulated war in space - Soviet ASAT tests