The Polyphem was a proposed European light-weight fibre-optic wire-guided surface-to-surface missile with a range of 60 km. [1] The project was cancelled in 2003.
The Polyphem was a proposed European light-weight fibre-optic wire-guided surface-to-surface missile with a range of 60 km. [1] The project was cancelled in 2003.
Polyphem is the German name of Polyphemus, the cyclops in the Odyssey that got his eye stabbed out by Ulysses.
The Polyphem missile uses a sealed round, a solid propellant booster rocket to launch the missile out of its canister to an initial height, so that the wings and control surfaces can unfold, and a more fuel economic turbojet cruise engine kicks in to propel the missile.
The missile can be programmed to follow a preset course, using GPS or inertial guidance. An infrared seeker can be used to automatically pick a target and for the terminal guidance phase, but it is also possible to transfer the thermal images back to the launching platform via a 200 MBit/s data link provided by an optical fibre, and manually select the target.
The Polyphem program was started in 1994 by Germany, France and Italy. Italy later left the project. [1]
A naval version, called Polyphem-S, was initially selected for the Braunschweig class corvette as anti-ship and land-attack missile, but that has been cancelled.
The Polyphem program as a whole was cancelled in 2003. [2]
The system is roughly comparable to the Serbian ALAS missile.
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