ARMAT | |
---|---|
Type | anti-radar missile |
Place of origin | France |
Service history | |
Used by | France Egypt Kuwait Iraq |
Specifications | |
Mass | 550 kg (1,210 lb) [1] |
Length | 4.15 m (13 ft 7 in) [1] |
Diameter | 0.40 m (16 in) (body) [1] |
Wingspan | 1.20 m (3 ft 11 in) [1] |
Warhead | 160 kg (350 lb) Semi-Armour Piercing HE |
Engine | solid fuel [ broken anchor ] rocket |
Operational range | 40–120 km (25–75 mi) [1] |
Maximum speed | Mach 0.9 (supersonic in dive) |
Guidance system | Passive radar homing |
Launch platform | Aircraft |
The ARMAT missile is a development of the Anglo-French Martel anti-radar missile. The Martel was further developed by British Aerospace to give the Sea Eagle anti-ship missile, while Britain adopted ALARM for their new ARM missile. France instead adopted the Exocet as their anti-ship missile in the 1970s, and used the ARMAT as new anti-radar weapon. This missile is unusually slow and huge when compared to western anti-radar missiles, reflecting the original anti-ship task of the ancestor, the AS.37/AJ.168 Martel.
ARMAT is not well known in details. It is a two-stage solid propelled missile, highly subsonic, with a range up to 120 km. The warhead weighs 150 kg with proximity fuse and delayed impact. The ARMAT was operational since 1984. It was used as main, if not exclusive anti-radar weapon by French aviation, employed by SEPECAT Jaguars against Libyans during Operation Epervier. It was also used by Iraqi aviation against Iranian defences.
ARMAT is used on Mirage F.1, Mirage 2000 and some other French aircraft, but not with the new Dassault Rafale. An improved product, the MARS, was proposed in 1988. In early 1990s it seems that the basic ARMAT was upgraded with better electronic systems.
A missile is an airborne ranged weapon capable of self-propelled flight aided usually by a propellant, jet engine or rocket motor.
An anti-ship missile is a guided missile that is designed for use against ships and large boats. Most anti-ship missiles are of the sea-skimming variety, and many use a combination of inertial guidance and active radar homing. A large number of other anti-ship missiles use infrared homing to follow the heat that is emitted by a ship; it is also possible for anti-ship missiles to be guided by radio command all the way.
Anti-aircraft warfare is the counter to aerial warfare and it includes "all measures designed to nullify or reduce the effectiveness of hostile air action". It includes surface based, subsurface, and air-based weapon systems, associated sensor systems, command and control arrangements, and passive measures. It may be used to protect naval, ground, and air forces in any location. However, for most countries, the main effort has tended to be homeland defence. Missile defence is an extension of air defence, as are initiatives to adapt air defence to the task of intercepting any projectile in flight.
The SEPECAT Jaguar is an Anglo-French supersonic jet attack aircraft originally used by the British Royal Air Force and the French Air Force in the close air support and nuclear strike role. It is still in service with the Indian Air Force.
ALARM is a British anti-radiation missile designed primarily to destroy enemy radars for the purpose of Suppression of Enemy Air Defenses (SEAD). It was used by the RAF and is still used by the Royal Saudi Air Force. The weapon was retired by the UK at the end of 2013.
The Missile Transportable Anti-aérien Léger, commonly called Mistral, is a French infrared homing short range air defense system manufactured by MBDA France. Based on the French SATCP, the development of the portable system later to become the Mistral began in 1974. The first version of the system was introduced in 1988 (S1), the second in 1997, and the third in 2018.
The Exocet is a French-built anti-ship missile whose various versions can be launched from surface vessels, submarines, helicopters and fixed-wing aircraft.
The Dassault-Breguet Super Étendard is a French carrier-borne strike fighter aircraft designed by Dassault-Breguet for service with the French Navy.
Brimstone is a ground or air-launched ground attack missile developed by MBDA UK for the UK's Royal Air Force. It was originally intended for "fire-and-forget" use against mass formations of enemy armour, using a millimetre wave (mmW) active radar homing seeker to ensure accuracy even against moving targets. Experience in Afghanistan led to the addition of laser guidance in the dual-mode Brimstone missile, allowing a "spotter" to pick out specific and the highest priority targets, particularly useful to minimise collateral damage when friendly forces or civilians were in the area. The tandem shaped-charge warhead is much more effective against modern tanks than older similar weapons such as the AGM-65G Maverick missile. Three Brimstones are carried on a launcher that occupies a single weapon station, allowing a single aircraft to carry many missiles.
The BAe Sea Eagle is a medium-weight sea-skimming anti-ship missile designed and built by BAe Dynamics. It is designed to sink or disable ships up to the size of aircraft carriers in the face of jamming and other countermeasures including decoys. Its users include the Royal Air Force and Royal Navy, the Royal Saudi Air Force, and the Indian Navy.
The Martel is an Anglo-French missile. The name Martel is a contraction of Missile, Anti-Radiation, Television, referring to the guidance options. There are two variants, the passive radar anti-radiation missile version, AS.37, and the television guided anti-ship missile, AJ 168.
Anti-surface warfare is the branch of naval warfare concerned with the suppression of surface combatants. More generally, it is any weapons, sensors, or operations intended to attack or limit the effectiveness of an adversary's surface ships. Before the adoption of the submarine and naval aviation, all naval warfare consisted of anti-surface warfare. The distinct concept of an anti-surface warfare capability emerged after World War II, and literature on the subject as a distinct discipline is inherently dominated by the dynamics of the Cold War.
The Kh-28 was the first Soviet anti-radiation missile for tactical aircraft. It entered production in 1973 and is still carried on some Sukhoi Su-22s in developing countries but is no longer in Russian service. Use of the Kh-28 was restricted by its weight, limited seeker head, bulk and fuelling requirements, and it was superseded by the smaller, solid-fuel Kh-58 in the early 1980s.
The AS.15 and AS.15TT are French anti-ship missiles. It was developed as a replacement for the AS-12 missile.
French support for Iraq during the Iran–Iraq war was an important element to strengthen Iraq for the Iran–Iraq War. Starting in roughly 1975, leading up to the Iran–Iraq War, as well as the war itself, the greatest amount of military equipment came to Iraq from the Soviet Union, but France was probably second, and generally provided higher-technology equipment than the Soviets.
Ra'ad is an Iranian designed and built subsonic anti-ship cruise missile. The missile is a reverse engineered and upgraded variant of China's Silkworm anti-ship missile. The missile was developed by the state-run Iran Aviation Industries Organization (IAIO). Iran reportedly began full production of the Ra’ad in January 2004 and went into service in 2007. The missile is equipped for ground and ship-launched platforms.
Sea Killer is an Italian anti-ship missile family. The latest development of the system is known as Marte. Marte is a sea skimming, subsonic, anti-ship missile, it carries a 70 kilograms (150 lb) semi-armour piercing warhead. It has been built in several versions, with differing guidance systems, and is suitable for launching from ships or aircraft.
Jamaran is the lead ship of the Iranian Moudge-class frigate launched in early 2010 in Bandar-e-Abbas, Iran, and already obsolete by the time of it’s launch. Iran has stated that the design and building of Jamaran was among the greatest achievements of the Iranian Navy and the ship's launch marks a major technological leap for Iran's naval industries. More ships in its class are under construction to be added to the Iranian fleets in the Caspian Sea and the Persian Gulf. The ship is designed for a crew of 140. Jamaran combines anti-submarine assets with other systems of weapons capable of dealing with surface and air threats as well.
Television guidance (TGM) is a type of missile guidance system using a television camera in the missile or glide bomb that sends its signal back to the launch platform. There, a weapons officer or bomb aimer watches the image on a television screen and sends corrections to the missile, typically over a radio control link. Television guidance is not a seeker because it is not automated, although semi-automated systems with autopilots to smooth out the motion are known. They should not be confused with contrast seekers, which also use a television camera but are true automated seeker systems.