Publication: defence THINK Issued: Date: 2005-12-15 Reporter: Leon Engelbrecht Reporter: Reporter:

New Air Defence Missile Successfully Fired from Corvette

 

Publication 

defence THINK!
Date 2005-12-15

Reporter

Leon Engelbrecht

 

South Africa has joined the handful of nations to have fielded a functional operational naval anti-missile air defence systems, the navy said on Wednesday. Up to now the club included just the United States, Britain, France, Russia and India. The navy said it late last month fired two Umkhonto (Spear) missiles to certify the ability of the patrol corvette SAS Amatola to defend itself against missile attack. "This is world beater *1," project leader Rear Admiral (Junior Grade) Johnny Kamerman said. "The tests went off exceptionally well."

Kamerman said the Amatola fired a missile at a high-speed Skua target drone on November 23 off Cape Aghulas (sic - Agulhas) and a second a week later. Both were fired with telemetry warheads to tell developers at Denel's nearby Overberg test range how the missiles were performing. Had real warheads been fitted, both targets would have been destroyed according to the data read-outs. "Both hits were within the specifications. The ranges achieved were even better than those specified," Kamerman added. Kamerman said the development of the system began in 1993 *2. South Africa decided to develop its own system *3 even after sanctions was lifted because high-end systems such as the US Aegis were unaffordable -- "we can't afford the launchers, let alone the missiles," Kamerman explained -- and low-end systems like shoulder-launched missiles were "a waste of time".

Land-based testing ended in July when the system was adjudged "shore-qualified." The next phase was to do sea acceptance trials on the Amatola in what Kamerman called "live configuration." Both Umkhonto missiles were vertically launched, giving the ship the ability to defend against threats in any direction at any azimuth -- including zenith attacks. The second missile is said to have missed the Skua high-speed target drone by some five metres. The Skua was designed to simulate a typical air-launched anti-ship missile. No residue of missile launch was left on the missile deck of the vessel, indicating pyrotechically correct and safe launch. Furthermore the test launches were conducted in fairly rough sea conditions with significant deck roll and pitch, which indicates a correct integration of the missile launch system into the combat suite including correct incorporation of roll and pitch data from the Inertial Navigation System via the Navigation Distribution System. Kamerman said making surface to air missile intercepts is the most complicated thing any navy can do in modern times *4. "It is the ultimate test of the combat system," he said, as it requires the ship to detect the threat, correctly analyse the data, allocate a weapon, designate a target, fire the weapon and track both missile and target while guiding the former onto the latter -- all in a matter of seconds. Kamerman said both intercepts lasted less than 30 seconds from target detection to simulated destruction. "This proves the defensive capability of the ships and the system one of the most modern system in world," Kamerman told DSD.

"It is a huge milestone for our industry *5," Kamerman said, adding further that 75 percent of the ships weapons and combat systems were designed and made in South Africa. It also demonstrated the correctness of Finland's decision to buy the system for its navy. Kamerman said the Umkhonto won the competition on its own merits against the US-German Rolling Air Frame Missile and the Bofors Bamse. The test was the penultimate of those facing the Amatola before it would be accepted into service.


*1       Well done Denel Kentron and the Corvette Joint Project Team.


*2      A very significant year.


*3      A very significant decision.


*4      Except for one, which is successfully engaging a maneuvering high-speed aerial target with a ballistic gun system). This requires another degree of real-time collaboration, responsiveness and accuracy between co-operating sub-systems. This is because a ballistic projectile does not have terminal guidance such as a missile has.


*5      Well done the South African Defence Electronics Industry.


All in all, this success story indicates that the entire combat suite integration process constitute a low to medium and quite manageable risk - just as the admiral and his merry men originally said.