This html article is produced from an uncorrected text file through optical character recognition. Prior to 1940 articles all text has been corrected, but from 1940 to the present most still remain uncorrected. Artifacts of the scans are misspellings, out-of-context footnotes and sidebars, and other inconsistencies. Adjacent to each text file is a PDF of the article, which accurately and fully conveys the content as it appeared in the issue. The uncorrected text files have been included to enhance the searchability of our content, on our site and in search engines, for our membership, the research community and media organizations. We are working now to provide clean text files for the entire collection.
eriguin missile for the Norwegian
le ship’s radar horizon until it is vnhin a range of some 23 nautical Ses. Then the attacker rises above
I Mark He wish
West Germany, Sweden, and Nor- 'Vay have developed their own anti- S^*P missiles to counter the Soviet ^avy’s powerful Northern and Baltic leets. The Messerschmitt-Bolkow-
^°hm (mbb) AS. 34 Kormoran is entering
service with the German Navy, "'hich has ordered 350 rounds and 56 a,rcraft installations. The weapon is JJSed to arm one wing of F-104G Star- 'fihters (two rounds per aircraft) and
later also be fitted to some or all the German Navy’s 113 Panavia *°fnado multi-role combat aircraft. In ^tveden, Saab developed the Rb08 fissile from the Aerospatiale CT20 tat8et drone; this weapon is used for c°astal defense as well as being fitted to two Swedish Navy destroyers. The Same company is also responsible for ^eloping the Rb04E and Rb05A a,r-launched antiship missiles which are now entering service. Norway’s ^°ngsberg Vapenfabrikk builds the
Davy’s frigates and patrol boats. The ^eapon has been exported to Sweden and Turkey and ordered by Greece. Fur- lher developments are being examined.
Kormoran is intended for use a8ainst fairly large ships with radar reactive areas of more than 10,000 s8Uare feet. As the radar cross section °^the launch aircraft is only about ten sSuare feet, the attacker normally can act)uire the target with radar and aunch a missile before it has been deleted. Kormoran can be fired from 9ny combat aircraft which carries a target acquisition radar, has a selfstained navigation system (such as lriertial or Doppler), and can maintain a speed of at least Mach 0.6 during inching.
A potential target is located by reconnaissance, and its coordinates are en into the aircraft position and homS indicator (PH0 either before the St of a mission or while the aircraft ls already airborne. The aircraft ap- i^Oaches its target at an altitude of at>out 100 feet, thus remaining below (hi the horizon while the target is acquired; the ship’s position is fed to the PHI, and the radar is switched off. As the launching point is approached a final radar updating of the target’s position is carried out, and the ship s coordinates, along with other reference data, are automatically fed into the missile’s navigation system.
The 14.5-foot long missile, which weighs 1,320 pounds, is powered directly off the pylon by a pair of solid- propellant boost motors which burn for less than a second. The high aircraft speed at launch is necessary so the missile can accelerate smoothly to its cruising speed of Mach 0.95- The solid-propellant sustainer motor is similar to the one used in the French Exocet antiship missile. After launching a missile, the launch aircraft immediately breaks away, and the Kormoran descends to its predetermined cruising height under control of an inertial navigation system and radar altimeter. As the weapon approaches its target, the active radar seeker is switched on and acquires the ship. The homing head is based on the two-axis Thomson-CSF RE576, which is used in the Franco-Italian Otomat Mk 1 antiship missile, with modifications to meet German specifications.
Kormoran completes its attack under control of the radar seeker, descending to just above the sea surface in the last few seconds of flight. The missile penetrates the ship s hull a short distance above the waterline, and a delay in the impact fuse ensures that the 350-lb. warhead detonates well inside the vessel. Two rows of elliptical projectile charges, which will penetrate three-inch steel plating, are arranged around the warhead.
Kormoran’s range, about 20 nautical miles, is shorter than that of many other antiship missiles. The German Navy’s studies have shown, however, that the antiaircraft armament of potential targets has a maximum range of between four and 14 miles. Also, many engagements would take place in confined areas among islands and near enemy coastlines, so extreme range is not needed. If the aircraft radar is unserviceable or is being jammed, or if a target of opportunity appears, the missile can be aimed by means of an optical sight and then carry out its attack in the normal way.
The latest Swedish antiship missiles are the Saab Rb04E and Rb05A. The former weapon is the most recent variant of a type which has been in service since 1959. The Rb04D has been used
on Saab A32A Lansens since 1971, and the Rb04E is an updated version for the AJ37 Viggen. The guidance system and missile structure have been modified to improve hit probability, reliability, and resistance to electronic countermeasures. The weapon is intended for use against landing craft, transport ships, and escorts. It can be released at speeds between Mach 0.4 and high-subsonic, having been fed with an indication of true vertical before launching. The rocket-powered missile descends to low level and cruises at high-subsonic speed while searching for and acquiring the target with an active radar seeker. A radio altimeter provides height information, and the seeker generates steering commands over the last three nautical miles of flight. A proximity fuse detonates the 450-550-lb. fragmentation warhead as the missile passes over its target. Rb04E is 14.5 feet long, weighs about 1,300 pounds, and is believed to have a range of more than ten nautical miles.
The smaller Rb05A, which is used
to arm the Saab Sk60 light attack aircraft as well as Viggens, is intended for use against small ships including fast patrol boats and surfaced submarines. The launch aircraft approaches its target at high speed and an altitude between 65 feet and 165 feet. The navigation system then commands the pilot to climb to 1,000-1,300 feet and level flight is resumed by switching in the autopilot altitude and attitude hold. As soon as he sights a target within range the pilot fires an Rb05A, which flies ahead of the aircraft. About 1.5 seconds after firing, the pilot takes command of the missile and steers it to its target by watching flares on the missile’s tail and using a command joystick. Commands are transmitted to the round in flight over a microwave link.
Rb05A is 11 feet long and weighs 670 pounds. It is powered by a packaged-liquid-propellant rocket motor, allowing the missile to be stored for long periods without degrading its effectiveness. Warhead weight and maximum range have not been released.
The Norwegian Penguin is unusual in Western antiship missiles in that it carries an infra-red seeker rather than a radar homing head. The weapon is fired from fixed box launchers/ containers and is fed with target information gathered by the ship’s radar or passive direction-finder. Penguin is autonomous after firing, using inertial guidance during cruise and infra-red homing for the attack. The rocket- powered missile cruises at Mach 0.7 over a distance of more than 11 nautical miles and carries the 275-lb. semi-armor-piercing warhead also used in the U.S. Bullpup air-to-surface missile. Penguin is ten feet long and weighs nearly 750 pounds at launch. A longer-range Mk 2 version is being developed, and the use of a Swedish Philips active radar seeker has been examined. Air-launched variants have also been studied, and the weapon may be deployed for coastal defense from fixed sites and wheeled or tracked vehicles.
Edited by Captain F. ). Wylie
THE USE OF RADAR AT SEA
THE USE OF RADAR AT SEA
with a preface by .
Sir Robert Watson-Watt
FOURTH REVISED EDITION
The standard work since its original publication in 1952, The Use of Radar at Sea is here reissued in a thoroughly revised, up-to-date edition, taking into account the latest developments in equipment, applications, and techniques, and the latest thinking in the field of collision-avoidance.
The subject is opened, for those who have little or no previous knowledge of electronics, with an elementary description of the principles of echo-ranging and of the general characteristics of radar. These statements are then enlarged in terms of existing equipment, the emphasis being placed on the functions rather than on the precise composition of the various units.
The operational aspects of marine radar are treated in a section which describes in detail methods of using radar as an aid to navigation and as a collisionwarning set, and which deals exhaustively with the interpretation of the display.
The book deals in detail with special devices to improve radar response and to facilitate identification, and with certain particular uses of radar, both at sea and on shore. Log-keeping, radar maintenance, and radar efficiency are dealt with in a thoroughgoing manner, and the concluding chapter provides a clear appreciation of lines of future development.
1977. 280 pages. Illustrated. Appendices. Index.
List price: $12.00 Member's price: $9.60
A Naval Institute Press Book
Add 75? to each order for postage and handling. (Please use book order form in Books of Interest to the Professional section)