Serbia and Montenegro plans a 'mini-Polyphem'
Doug Richardson
Engineers in the former Yugoslavia have begun work on a long-range anti-tank missile, writes Doug Richardson. The missile will be powered by a small turbojet engine and is intended to fly at what were described to JMR as "medium subsonic speeds".
The guidance system will be based on a trailing optical fibre, which will carry imagery from a television (TV) camera mounted in the missile, allowing it to be displayed to the missile operator. This type of guidance is used in the Rafael Spike series of anti-tank missiles, which have a range of 4-8 km, and had been used in the abandoned LFK/Aerospatiale/Italmissile Polyphem, a strike weapon with a range of up to 60 km.
The maximum range of the new jet-powered missile will be about 15 km, sufficient to allow not only long-range anti-tank engagements, but attacks against front-line air-defence assets and other tactical targets, and short-range interdiction missions.
Serbia and Montenegro already has experience of TV-homing technology, having adopted this form of guidance for the Grom B TV air-to-surface missile developed in 1996. (This missile is also known as Grom-2.) Like the earlier radio command-guided Grom A (Grom-1), Grom B has a maximum range of 12 km. Yugoimport-SDPR has claimed a 50 per cent hit rate against a 10 m-diameter target for Grom, but has not stated which version this refers to. It probably relates to the radio-command version, since the Grom B target set includes small targets such as tanks.
While the new anti-tank missile uses an optical fibre, Grom B relies on a two-way radio datalink between the missile and the launch aircraft. This system is pod-mounted.
According to Yugoimport-SDPR, in the final stages of flight Grom B is operated by the pilot/weapon system officer who directs the missile via two-way datalink to the desired aimpoint. If the primary target has left the area, the operator has the option of selecting a secondary target or steering the missile to an impact point where it can detonate without causing any damage.
A similar philosophy will probably be adopted for the anti-tank missile, with the operator monitoring the flight, identifying or selecting targets, and passing guidance commands back to the missile. The camera was described to JMR as a "TV-homing head", which would imply a lock-on and terminal homing capability.
A small turbojet engine of indigenous design and manufacture has been developed to power the new missile. The TMM-25 is a single-shaft turbojet engine, with a three-stage axial compressor, an annular combustion chamber, a single-stage axial turbine and a convergent nozzle. It has a nominal thrust of 25 daN.
Design goals for the TMM-25 included a low parts count, low production cost and suitability for local manufacture. It can operate at speeds of up to Mach 0.8 and from sea level to 16,000 ft. Other potential military applications include powered terminally guided munitions and unmanned aerial vehicles. Possible civil applications are model aircraft and auxiliary propulsion for gliders.
The TMM-25 is of modular design, its three main sub-units being the compressor module, combustion-chamber module and nozzle module. This approach is intended to allow the development of other variants, such as a rear-fan configured turbofan, an afterburning turbojet or a small turboshaft able to drive an electrical generator or a road vehicle.
The new anti-tank missile will be powered by the indigenously developed TMM-25 single-shaft turbojet.
(Source: Doug Richardson)
The technology needed for a TV-homing weapon is likely to be derived from the Grom B TV-guided air-to-surface missile, whose nose-mounted TV camera captured this image sequence during trials.
http//jmr.janes.com
and ,,Bumbar '' bumble bee
www.odbrana.mod.gov.yu/odbrana032/arsenal032.pdf
Doug Richardson
Engineers in the former Yugoslavia have begun work on a long-range anti-tank missile, writes Doug Richardson. The missile will be powered by a small turbojet engine and is intended to fly at what were described to JMR as "medium subsonic speeds".
The guidance system will be based on a trailing optical fibre, which will carry imagery from a television (TV) camera mounted in the missile, allowing it to be displayed to the missile operator. This type of guidance is used in the Rafael Spike series of anti-tank missiles, which have a range of 4-8 km, and had been used in the abandoned LFK/Aerospatiale/Italmissile Polyphem, a strike weapon with a range of up to 60 km.
The maximum range of the new jet-powered missile will be about 15 km, sufficient to allow not only long-range anti-tank engagements, but attacks against front-line air-defence assets and other tactical targets, and short-range interdiction missions.
Serbia and Montenegro already has experience of TV-homing technology, having adopted this form of guidance for the Grom B TV air-to-surface missile developed in 1996. (This missile is also known as Grom-2.) Like the earlier radio command-guided Grom A (Grom-1), Grom B has a maximum range of 12 km. Yugoimport-SDPR has claimed a 50 per cent hit rate against a 10 m-diameter target for Grom, but has not stated which version this refers to. It probably relates to the radio-command version, since the Grom B target set includes small targets such as tanks.
While the new anti-tank missile uses an optical fibre, Grom B relies on a two-way radio datalink between the missile and the launch aircraft. This system is pod-mounted.
According to Yugoimport-SDPR, in the final stages of flight Grom B is operated by the pilot/weapon system officer who directs the missile via two-way datalink to the desired aimpoint. If the primary target has left the area, the operator has the option of selecting a secondary target or steering the missile to an impact point where it can detonate without causing any damage.
A similar philosophy will probably be adopted for the anti-tank missile, with the operator monitoring the flight, identifying or selecting targets, and passing guidance commands back to the missile. The camera was described to JMR as a "TV-homing head", which would imply a lock-on and terminal homing capability.
A small turbojet engine of indigenous design and manufacture has been developed to power the new missile. The TMM-25 is a single-shaft turbojet engine, with a three-stage axial compressor, an annular combustion chamber, a single-stage axial turbine and a convergent nozzle. It has a nominal thrust of 25 daN.
Design goals for the TMM-25 included a low parts count, low production cost and suitability for local manufacture. It can operate at speeds of up to Mach 0.8 and from sea level to 16,000 ft. Other potential military applications include powered terminally guided munitions and unmanned aerial vehicles. Possible civil applications are model aircraft and auxiliary propulsion for gliders.
The TMM-25 is of modular design, its three main sub-units being the compressor module, combustion-chamber module and nozzle module. This approach is intended to allow the development of other variants, such as a rear-fan configured turbofan, an afterburning turbojet or a small turboshaft able to drive an electrical generator or a road vehicle.
The new anti-tank missile will be powered by the indigenously developed TMM-25 single-shaft turbojet.
(Source: Doug Richardson)
The technology needed for a TV-homing weapon is likely to be derived from the Grom B TV-guided air-to-surface missile, whose nose-mounted TV camera captured this image sequence during trials.
http//jmr.janes.com
and ,,Bumbar '' bumble bee
www.odbrana.mod.gov.yu/odbrana032/arsenal032.pdf
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