it is official!! Brazil will co- develop with South Africa the A-Darter!!

A-Darter uses BAe Systems guidance systems

In late September 2006 Denel Aerospace Systems selected BAE Systems’ SILMU02 solid-state inertial measurement unit for midcourse guidance of the A-Darter missile.

South Africa’s Denel Dynamics is responsible for the imaging-infrared seeker for its A-Darter. The seeker is derived from the IR-seeker of the 3rd-Gen U-Darter. A-Darter reportedly carries a 17 kg warhead (compared to 9.4 kg for the AIM-9L/M).

A-Darter Brochure from Denel Dynamics

SYSTEM FEATURES

• High agility to handle the closest of close combats
• A two-colour thermal imaging seeker with high sensitivity and a multi-mode ECCM suite
• A low-drag, wingless airframe, ensuring ranges beyond those of traditional short-range missiles
• Lock-on after launch and memory tracking capabilities
• A lightweight design compatible with traditional Sidewinder stations

The A-Darter may be designated to a target by using the aircraft’s radar, a helmet sight, or the missile’s autonomous scan feature if radar silence is required. The seeker’s large look-angles and the airframe’s agility make high off-boresight helmet designated firings possible. Longrange intercepts, beyond IR detection range, are possible, using the lock-on after launch mode.

A-Darter successfully launched off SAAF Gripen

Written by Leon Engelbrecht Wednesday, 21 July 2010 10:50

The South African Air Force (SAAF) has successfully test-fired a Denel Dynamics A-Darter fifth-generation short-range imaging infra-red air-to-air missile at the company’s Overberg test range east of Cape Town.

It is the latest step in the development of the R1 billion joint venture between South Africa and Brazil.

Gripen-builder SAAB says the test firing, the first, verified the integration between the missile and the aircraft. Gripen was chosen as the platform for these integration tests and has completed the them with outstanding results, said Ulf Nilsson, responsible for the Gripen program within the Aeronautics division at SAAB. “The test firing is an important milestone in the Gripen programme,” he adds. “The A-Darter missile is a collaboration and development project within the missile area between the local industry, Denel Dynamics, South Africa, and Brazil, where SAAB has a leading role for the integration of complex future missile systems”.

Magnus Reineholm, SAAB project manager for the A-Darter integration added in a statement issued by the aircraft maker that the missile “and the Gripen aircraft have worked beyond our expectations and we are extremely pleased with the test firing results”.

Denel Dynamics CE Jan Wessels says for his company, “as a supplier of advanced guided missile turn-key solutions, it is as important to develop technically advanced missiles as it is to ensure simplicity and ease of integration on multiple aircraft types, since our market focus is on a broad spectrum of potential customer aircraft choices. This attribute of the A-Darter missile is well demonstrated by the successful integration & clearance program on the highly advanced Gripen fighter, and bodes well for the A-Darter missile integration on a variety of further aircraft platforms.”

The SAAF is to fit the missile to its fleet of 24 workhorse BAE Systems Hawk Mk120 lead-in fighter trainers in addition to integrating it on to the 26 more sophisticated Saab Gripen C and D advanced lightweight fighter. Brazil wants the weapon for its FX-2 future fighter programme.

In April Wessels told defenceWeb the weapon, under development since March 2007 was on track and on target for delivery to the SAAF and the Brazilian Air Force from early 2013, now less than three years away. Wessels added training missiles will be delivered from 2012. In March the A-Darter completed its guided flight test. “That’s where you first test it against a target,” Wessels explained in the April interview. “Now everything has to work as a system. What you now do is you have an actual infra-red target in the air, in this case a parachute flare… now you check if everything is working as a system,” he says.

The test followed a series of programme flight tests where the missile had to fly a series of pre-determined routes, or circuits, “and it is very extreme, left, right up down, all the difficult manoeuvres. But it doesn’t engage a target. You are exercising its manoeuvrability. Can it pull the G’s etcetera. That was done by February,” Wessels adds.

“In parallel the so-called integration missiles that went to Saab. So they have in Sweden already integrated the missile with the structure of the aircraft, the mechanical integration of the missile with the aircraft and with the avionics, which is very complex on the Gripen. They conducted a series of flight tests where they flew with this missile in extreme angles of attack up to 12G, (12 times standard earth gravity) and up to 13 700m in altitude to ensure the aircraft wasn’t damaged.” The firing of the missile off the aircraft will be tested as a separate activity but it is these days fairly predictable.

“The rest of the programme is now qualification and industrialisation. So the real technology has all been solved. On a programme like this those were the risks. On a fifth generation missile like this there were many things we had never done. They have all now been ticked off. Now we can increase the reliability and maturity of the system.”

http://www.defenceweb.co.za/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=9005:a-darter-successfully-launched-off-saaf-gripen-&catid=35:Aerospace&Itemid=107

A-Darter for Gripen and Hawk
Date: 23 April 2010

By Leon Engelbrecht

The South African Air Force is to fit the fifth-generation A-Darter short-range imaging infra-red air-to-air missile currently under development at Denel Dynamics to its fleet of 24 workhorse BAE Systems Hawk Mk120 lead-in fighter trainers in addition to integrating it on to the 26 more sophisticated Saab Gripen C and D advanced lightweight fighter.

The move will effective double the SAAF missile combat fighter fleet and will give Denel Dynamics a significant new market for the R1 billion missile programme as the Hawk is flown by about 18 countries.

Denel Dynamics CE Jan Wessels says the new weapon, under joint development by SA and Brazil since March 2007 is on track and on target for delivery to the SAAF and the Brazilian Air Force from early 2013, now less than three years away. Wessels adds training missiles will be delivered from 2012.

Wessels says the A-Darter has now passed a series of development tests, the latest just last month. “For a missile like this the so-called guided flight test is the key test. That’s where you first test it against a target. Now everything has to work as a system. What you now do is you have an actual infra-red target in the air, in this case a parachute flare… now you check if everything is working as a system,” he says.

The test followed a series of programme flight tests where the missile had to fly a series of pre-determined routes, or circuits, “and it is very extreme, left, right up down, all the difficult manoeuvres. But it doesn’t engage a target. You are exercising its manoeuvrability. Can it pull the G’s etcetera. That was done by February,” Wessels adds.

“In parallel the so-called integration missiles that went to Saab. So they have in Sweden already integrated the missile with the structure of the aircraft, the mechanical integration of the missile with the aircraft and with the avionics, which is very complex on the Gripen. They conducted a series of flight tests where they flew with this missile in extreme angles of attack up to 12G, 12 times standard earth gravity) and up to 13 700m in altitude to ensure the aircraft wasn’t damaged. The firing of the missile off the aircraft will be tested as a separate activity but it is these days fairly predictable. That will happen in the latter half of 2010,after AAD, because depends on the availability of aircraft, pilots and this and that.

“The rest of the programme is now qualification and industrialisation. So the real technology has all been solved. On a programme like this those were the risks. On a fifth generation missile like this there were many things we had never done. They have all now been ticked off. Now we can increase the reliability and maturity of the system.”

The next step is to take the missile to the Gripen. “We will repeat the March test, which was ground-launched, but this time from the aircraft, then we will go into clean-up mode and start to prepare for production, reliability testing and the like.”

SAAF director air combat Brigadier General John Bayne let the A-Darter out of the Hawk bag earlier this week. Wessels says fitting the missile to the aircraft will be a new project “that is currently being negotiated. We have a RFI [request for information] to respond to” from the Air Force through ATE and BAE Systems, the original equipment and avionics manufacturers.

“We think there is a lot of potential for [A-Darter on Hawk],” Wessels says. One operating scenario will see the more expensive (in terms of purchase price and operating cost) Gripen act as a command aircraft for one or more Hawk, staying aloof from close combat while feeding command and radar data to the Hawk via the Link ZA datalink both aircraft carry. The Hawk will then close with and engage the adversary using the data transmitted from the Gripen.

“The more they [the SAAF] use the Hawk as a workhorse, the better for our industry. The access to that platform, that product is ten times easier” than the more sophisticated Gripen, Wessels says.

http://saairforce.co.za/news-and-events/880/a-darter-for-gripen-and-hawk

Denel Dynamics delivered a test version of its A-Darter 5th generation short-range imaging infrared air-to-air missile to Saab for integration onto the Gripen 39C/D in February. Live test-firings of A-Darter from the Gripen are scheduled in the second half of 2010.

http://www.defensenews.com/story.php?i=4547991

So we should see the A-Darter fired off the Gripen in the next few months.

…
If all goes well as it appears to be doing, it may make for some interesting projects ahead. T-Darter as mentioned, which may prove to be a very interesting missile, but it would also be interesting to see what deveopments spring out of the Umkhonto missile. …

Nice to see interesting collaborative projects such as these,

Combining S. African & Brazilian expertise & money could make a lot possible which neither could achieve alone. Yes, nice to see, & interesting.

And maybe the A- and R-Darters would equip Brazil’s next generation of fighters, e.g. Rafale, Super Hornet.

so why not the gripen NG for Brazil?, seems obvius that the integration costs is next to none..

More likely would be the A- and T-Darters. R-Darter appears to have died, I don’t think it’s going to be integrated with Gripen, so…

Quite correct. When the Cheetah C was retired last year, the R-Darter went with it. The remaining stocks R-Darter have been put up for sale, at a very good price. There was/is some speculation that they might equip the Brazilian F5’s, with an evaluation that is in the offing.

The T-Darter seems to be mentioned as a successor to the R-Darter, with some speculation, as has been mentioned on this website, of a possible ramjet propulsion. Work has been done in this direction by Kentron/Denel, but I think the important thing here is funding. South Africa spends a very small amount of her GDP on defence, hence Brazilian involvement in A-Darter.

If all goes well as it appears to be doing, it may make for some interesting projects ahead. T-Darter as mentioned, which may prove to be a very interesting missile, but it would also be interesting to see what deveopments spring out of the Umkhonto missile. There has been a containerized truck mounted land version developed, with a radar version also being actively developed.

The present IR naval Umkhonto sprang out of the original SAHV SAM programme that was a land system to replace the Crotale in South African service.

Nice to see interesting collaborative projects such as these,

More likely would be the A- and T-Darters. R-Darter appears to have died, I don’t think it’s going to be integrated with Gripen, so…

And maybe the A- and R-Darters would equip Brazil’s next generation of fighters, e.g. Rafale, Super Hornet.

Below is the latest news:

SA, Brazil to start manufacture of A Darter in 2011

South Africa and Brazil will start to manufacture the Denel Dynamics A-Darter fifth-generation infra-red guided short-range air-to-air missile (IRSRAAM)in early 2011.

That’s the word from Denel Dynamics CE Jan Wessels at a media briefing yesterday. He says the R1 billion five-year project that started in March 2007 is now roughly halfway in time and expenditure.

The A-Darter is being developed for the South African Air Force’s Saab JAS39 Gripen advanced light fighter aircraft under the programme name “Project Assegaai” and for the Brazilian Air Force’s F5EM light fighter and its future “FX” aircraft. Brazilian has said it expects the system in service by 2015.
SA is one of five countries capable of developing and building 5th generation IRSRAAM.
Wessels says the missile is due for a range of tests this November and mid-year next year.
“The next test, in November will be a live fire at a target. In the middle next year it will be fired from a Gripen, Wessels said.

The 2.9m, 89kg joint South African-Brazilian design was successfully ground test fired at the Overberg test range in the Southern Cape in February.

A Denel source who spoke under condition of anonymity at the time told defenceWeb the missile was fired from a ground launcher and performed a series of programmed extreme manoeuvres in what was the weapon’s first controlled test flight.
The source further added that the successful test showed that a number of technical challenges had been overcome “proving the development programme is still on track.”

Denel Dynamics, previously Kentron, started the technical development of the A-Darter in 2004.
Wessels says the fifth generation weapon features two major advances over older weapons: “A missile ten years ago could manoeuvre at 20G. This one can manoeuvre at 90G (and has been tested to 80G), which means you can shoot at a target behind you. That is massive technology…”

The second thing is this one images. It forms an image of the actual target and from a library it can identify that target and can be programmed to attack only certain types of targets (reducing the chance of fratricide).

Wessels adds that anti-IR missile flare decoys are also getting very sophisticated. But because the A-Darter forms an image of the target and intercepts that rather than a hotspot as in previous-generation weapons, it can lock on to the target and reject decoys.
Denel Dynamics scientists say it is currently taking six months to assemble the seeker head, which costs around R980 000 each, inclusive of a R200 000 pure sapphire crystal lens cover.

The CE adds that Denel Dynamics are still doing research work on a T-Darter radar-guided medium range air-to-air missile as well as a radar-guided variant of its short-range Umkhonto IR surface-to-air missile, in use with the SA and Finnish navies.
Regarding the Umkhonto, Wessels added that SA “wants to team up with another country but that country is not ready yet.” A medium-range version of the Umkhonto is also on the cards.

http://www.defenceweb.co.za/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=2996&Itemid=420

From Janes….

On the international front Brazil’s major partner in missile development is South Africa, where Denel Dynamics is co-operating with Mectron on the A-Darter IR-guided AAM. Mectron sees its own more agile but shorter-range MAA-1B as a fourth-generation AAM while describing the A-Darter as a fifth-generation weapon.

Brazil’s participation in the long-running A-Darter programme was crucial to ensuring its survival as funding dried up at home. Mectron has design personnel working with Denel in South Africa and will build components for the missile, which is scheduled to enter service in 2012. No decision yet has been taken on establishing a Brazilian production line.

The A-Darter should be a key weapon for whatever type is selected for the Brazilian Air Force’s FX-2 fighter requirement. The missile is the third strand in Mectron’s staged AAM development work and the company says that it is already looking at beyond-visual-range (BVR) missile designs as a natural next step in that process. As a similar BVR weapon requirement exists in South Africa, it is not impossible that this will be the next collaboration between the two.

Robert Hewson is Editor of Jane’s Air-Launched Weapons, reporting from Rio de Janeiro.

Further news.

Denel Missile Development Highlights Tech Transfer

RIO DE JANIERO – South Africa’s Denel is developing a fifth-generation air-to-air missile with the Brazilian defense industry in what is a model for defense technology transfer between countries, a Denel executive said at a seminar for visitors at the Latin America Aerospace and Defense (LAAD) conference.

Denel Dynamics, a division of Denel, is developing the short- to medium-range A-Darter missile that can be used on the Gripen fighters South Africa is receiving from Saab and on Brazil’s F-5 aircraft. It also could be used on whichever fighter Brazil procures in its FX-2 fighter competition, said Col. Ian van Vuuren, director for the A-Darter program at Denel Dynamics.

Van Vuuren gave a basic “how-to” seminar on establishing a framework for technology transfers between countries.

“One of the typical problems with technology transfer is everybody agrees to do it, [but] it takes two and a half years for the client receiving the technology to put the establishment team in place in his own country,” van Vuuren said. In that time, knowledge is lost and training loses its effectiveness.

How to establish an effective framework is “not that obvious when you’re in a middle of a program, having to launch it, apply the funding, find the people, put the mechanisms in place,” he said.

Van Vuuren’s presentation focused on the process Denel and the governments of South Africa and Brazil used to establish a framework for the technology transfer as part of the A-Darter program. Key to the process is having over-arching government support, formalized in cooperation agreements, and creating a joint contracting body to award the contract to companies. With restrictions on advanced missile technology from developed countries, it’s hard for non-aligned countries to equip their aircraft, van Vuuren said.

Production of the first A-Darter missiles is planned for 2011, with one or all of Brazilian companies Avibras, Opto Electronica and Mectron producing a portion of the missiles.

http://www.defensenews.com/osd_story.php?sh=VSDL&i=4043462

Back to the topic (A-Darter), given the announced Brasil-SA cooperation on Darter, it will be interesting to see the outcome of India and Brasil’s fighter selection. Darter will obviously be intregrated on Gripen, but Rafale looks to have decent chances in both Brasil and India… Whether or not SA and Brasil are interested in India joining the project as a partner, it may be a good customer.

I also think that while immediate prospects for Rooivalk in Brasil are small (their generals seem more interested in nuclear subs), in the medium term there is scope for a cooperative evolutionary/upgraded version that would be productive for both sides (Brasil would be playing off cooperation with both Eurocopter and Denel). New armaments or counter-measure suites would be upgrades that would also advance Brasil’s development capabilities.

Possibly, but the Chinese don’t exactly have the best reputation for respecting IP agreements they’ve signed and not stealing your pants if they can get away with it. … Brasil and India (as well as Russia) haven’t demonstrated the same (complete lack of trustworthiness) sort of approach, ….

True. That’s why I said “won’t necessarily”. Without that risk it would be a no-brainer, & China would be the only sensible option if India tried to force the issue – except that Western countries aren’t allowing arms sales to China.

BTW, Russia doesn’t belong with Brazil & India. It’s not a customer for foreign weapons, & in general business dealings it, & its companies, have sometimes demonstrated an almost complete lack of scruple, & respect for the law.

Look, without derailing or going off topic, Denel have openly stated that they very strongly distrust a lot of the intentions from certain Chinese manufacturers regarding their products. Below is an article reporting on this. Please note that I am only posting in the light of what was posted above and personally do not feel the slightest bit inclined to express my opinions on the matter here, even if I had any.:cool:

http://www.upiasia.com/Security/2009/01/06/china_eyes_south_african_weaponry/1849/

On topic, I hope the A-Darter project will unlock further co-operation between South Africa and Brazil, particularly with regards to Denel’s BVRAAM project. as discussed here…

http://forum.keypublishing.co.uk/showthread.php?t=66397

So China doesn’t violate “anything important” and “didn’t manage to get one [Rooivalk] off the South Africans”.
Definitely sounds like a solid basis for cooperation in one of the most advanced armaments projects South Africa can manage for the forseeable future… I mean, SA would practically be nuts to NOT be sharing everything they can with China.

There is serious cooperation between SA and Brasil, as announced.
SA is obviously working heavily in partnership/ownership arrangements with European groups.
Israel has been the past major partner of SA. SA doesn’t seem so keen on apartheid anymore, so that’s probably no longer the most preferred option.
Where is SA-China cooperation? If you have anything to share about this topic, feel free. Otherwise, stuff it.

Possibly, but the Chinese don’t exactly have the best reputation for respecting IP agreements they’ve signed and not stealing your pants if they can get away with it. E.g., they just admitted to flat-out ignoring their PREVIOUS agreement with Russia re: aircraft designs, but are claiming they will NOW respect I.P. agreements… Right. Brasil and India (as well as Russia) haven’t demonstrated the same (complete lack of trustworthiness) sort of approach, and are in fact ‘trusted cooperation partners’ of multiple Western defense contractors. Unless you have NO other options and are completely desperate, China doesn’t really seem like a good ‘partner’. They have in fact put out designs that appear to be straight rip-offs of South African missiles… They were willing to purchase A HANDFUL of copies of the Rooivalk – which wasn’t agreed to, with justification, since that’s pretty much not even hiding their intentions to reverse-engineer.

I was actually hoping to go through 2 threads not related to China without hearing another post attacking China over J-11B.

China is not violating anything important in the J-11B row. Sukhoi is just crying to try to get more money out of China. China signed for the rights to produce 200 su-27sk as part of the deal. They haven’t produced that many yet. As part of the deal, they are allowed to increase the proportion of the local content until they produce it completely. Which is what they are doing now. They are not exporting it, so what’s the big deal? They’ve already paid for the 200 unit royalty + ToT + the parts that they signed up for.

As for Rooivalk, they never managed to get one off the South African, so what’s the big deal. And which missile are you saying that they copied off the South Africans? Don’t even use PL-10, since that’s a speculated photo, nobody knows what it really looks like or even if that’s the real designation.

Can’t be “corrected” unless India makes a political decision to reward states which shun Pakistan, & India has recently been moving in exactly the opposite direction. And forget about persuading anyone to shun China: if they have to choose between the Chinese & Indian markets, they won’t necessarily choose India.

Possibly, but the Chinese don’t exactly have the best reputation for respecting IP agreements they’ve signed and not stealing your pants if they can get away with it. E.g., they just admitted to flat-out ignoring their PREVIOUS agreement with Russia re: aircraft designs, but are claiming they will NOW respect I.P. agreements… Right. Brasil and India (as well as Russia) haven’t demonstrated the same (complete lack of trustworthiness) sort of approach, and are in fact ‘trusted cooperation partners’ of multiple Western defense contractors. Unless you have NO other options and are completely desperate, China doesn’t really seem like a good ‘partner’. They have in fact put out designs that appear to be straight rip-offs of South African missiles… They were willing to purchase A HANDFUL of copies of the Rooivalk – which wasn’t agreed to, with justification, since that’s pretty much not even hiding their intentions to reverse-engineer.

SA/Brazil missile programme achieves important milestone

By: Keith Campbell
22nd February 2009

A signficant milestone has been reached in the development of the fifth-generation A-Darter infrared (IR) homing air-to-air missile (AAM), which is being jointly developed by South Africa and Brazil.

Denel Dynamics, part of the South African State-owned Denel defence industrial group, has revealed that the AAM’s first series of programmed flight tests had been successfully completed last week.

These tests were carried out at Denel’s OTB test range, on the country’s south coast, near Bredasdorp in the Western Cape.

They served to check the A-Darter’s manoeuvrability and its characteristics under high g-forces.

In parallel, tests were also executed on the seeker head of the AAM, to evaluate its ability to track targets………..

Rest of the article is here:

http://www.engineeringnews.co.za/article/sabrazil-missile-programme-achieves-important-milestone-2009-02-22