SA Hopes Brazil Will Join Another Missile Project
A Brazilian report has stated that South Africa’s State-owned defence industrial group Denel is proposing that the Brazilian Navy cooperate with it in the development of the radar-guided version of Denel Dynamics’ Umkhonto naval surface-to-air missile (SAM), designated Umkhonto-R. If so, this would parallel the current cooperation between Denel Dynamics and the Brazilian Air Force in the development of the A-Darter air-to-air missile. It is known that Denel is seeking to widen its cooperation with Brazil, with Unmanned Air Vehicles likely to be the next area of partnership. The Brazilian and South African Navies will start high-level staff talks late next month (November) and it is believed that this would provide the ideal opportunity for the South African Navy to lobby the Brazilians to join the Umkhonto-R programme.
The original, infrared-homing, version of the Umkhonto, designated Umkhonto-IR, is now in service with the South African and Finnish Navies and is being seriously considered by the Swedish Navy. Radar homing would give the missile greater range. While the slant (as distinct from vertical, or horizontal) range of the Umkhonto-IR is believed to be 14 km, that for the Umkhonto-R would, reportedly, be 20 km. (The Denel Dynamics public brochure for the Umkhonto-IR states “Range: 12 000 m”, and gives a ceiling of 8 000 m.)
The South African Department of Defence is, it seems, providing funding for the Umkhonto-R project, but this is not likely to be enough to allow a purely national development of the programme within a reasonable time. (If a weapon system takes too long to develop, it becomes obsolete before it even enters service.) Hence Denel’s, and South Africa’s, reported desire for a partner.
The engagement sequence for the Umkhonto-IR is as follows: the warship detects a target on its acquisition radar and launches the missile against it; the SAM uses its on-board inertial navigation subsystem to fly itself to a “lock-on point” – the location at which its IR seeker can acquire the target and lock on to it – and then guide itself to interception.
However, for the Umkhonto-R, it is reported that, after target detection and missile launch, the SAM would be steered towards the target by commands from the warship, activating its radar seeker when within range, locking on to, and then intercepting, the target.
Unlike the South African navy, the Brazilian Navy already operates radar-guided SAMs, namely the Italian Aspide, with a published range of greater than 15 km. Although the Brazilians rate this as a very good missile, they are, however, merely users of it – they have no mastery of radar-homing technology. Cooperation with South Africa in the Umkhonto-R programme would provide an opportunity for the Brazilians to gain this expertise.
However, there is a potential problem. The Umkhonto (both -IR and -R versions) is designed to use vertical launch systems (VLS) and not traditional trainable launchers.
In a VLS each missile is accomodated in its own silo, and this arrangement has many advantages over traditonal systems, with the result that VLS is being adopted nearly universally for new-build warships. But almost all of a VLS is accomodated below deck, not above deck as with traditional launchers. This requires that the ship have significant internal volume to accomodate the VLS. And Brazil’s existing frigates and corvettes do not have the necessary internal volume to host VLS, meaning they cannot carry the Umkhonto. On the other hand, the Umkhonto-R could be fitted to Brazil’s bigger ships – the aircraft carrier and four or five amphibious ships – which have plenty of internal volume available. So this is not an automatic deal-wrecker.
The Brazilian Navy has its own research and development agency, the Naval Research Institute (IPqM are its initials in Portuguese). The IPqM is based in Rio de Janeiro and is subordinated to the Navy Science, Technology, and Innovation Secretariat. The Institute has successfully developed weapons and electronic systems that are now in service with the Brazilian Navy, including electronic support measures (ESM), a tactical control system for warships, a monitoring and conmtrol system for ships’ engines, a chaff launching system, and sea mines. Projects it is currently working on include an electronic countermeasures (ECM) system, radar absorbing materials, ceramic armour, and an inertial navigation system. The IPqM has close ties with Brazilian industry and would presumably be the lead Brazilian institution in a joint Umkhonto-R programme.
By: wilhelm - 28th October 2008 at 12:28
Wilhelm, excellent posts, whilst we have a Rooikat chassis in a thread I must just ask if anybody has any information or pictures about the proposed and apprently prototyped ICV version?
Thanks in advance sealordlawrence.
Sealord, I have a very small picture of that Rooikat based 8×8 ICV, along with some other pictures with partial views of the vehicle in the backround.
I think the vehicle might be at the School of Armour museum in Bloemfontein, but I speak under possible correction here.
I also have some pictures of the various other 6×6 and 8×8 vehicles/mock-ups used in the original Hoefyster project to replace the Ratel.
If you are interested I can dig them out and post them.
By: sealordlawrence - 25th October 2008 at 23:53
Wilhelm, excellent posts, whilst we have a Rooikat chassis in a thread I must just ask if anybody has any information or pictures about the proposed and apprently prototyped ICV version?
Thanks in advance sealordlawrence.
By: wilhelm - 21st October 2008 at 08:20
The radar looks a lot like Kameelperd. Is it in fact the same/similar?
Does the SA Army have MANPADS in service?
I am aware that they “aquired” a number of SAM-7 launchers and missiles from the Cubans and Angolans, but those would surely be at the end of (or past) their shelf life by now.
As plane man said, the Starstreak is the SANDF’s SHORAD.
I’m not too sure whether the radar on the ZA-35 shares it’s lineage with the Kameelperd. Certainly the Kameelperd array looks to be a little larger than the radar array on the ZA-35, which was designed by ESD of Stellenbosch. The Kameelperd is manufactured by RRS (Reutech Radar Systems). I’m unsure whether there is a link between the 2 companies, or whether one is just a design firm.
Certainly the Kameelperd (Giraffe) is a battery control early warning system. Below from the Financial Mail a few years back.
The second and third phases of the wider ground-based air defence system will include a short-range missile system with a 20 km range and a 10 000 m altitude, probably using the Umkhonto missile developed by Denel’s Kentron division, and integration of existing anti-aircraft guns with Reutech Radar Systems’ Kameelperd radar/artillery command post.
Below is some basic info on some of RRS products.
By: planeman6000 - 21st October 2008 at 03:50
SA uses Starstreak SHORAD. Pitty the Za-35 never entered service, it’s a great looking piece of kit
What Brazil really needs is a naval area-air defence missile
By: Dodger67 - 20th October 2008 at 16:26
The radar looks a lot like Kameelperd. Is it in fact the same/similar?
Does the SA Army have MANPADS in service?
I am aware that they “aquired” a number of SAM-7 launchers and missiles from the Cubans and Angolans, but those would surely be at the end of (or past) their shelf life by now.
By: wilhelm - 20th October 2008 at 14:18
The ZA-35. The SAHV/Umkhonto was to be mounted on a similar vehicle. I do not have any images of the latest version of the land based Umkhonto.
By: wilhelm - 20th October 2008 at 13:25
The Umkhonto was derived from the SAHV missile initiated in the 1980’s. It was tested on the Crotale/Cactus missile vehicle chassis, of which there is a photo on the net of a launch from this vehicle. There was also a version that was to be mounted on a Rooikat 8×8 Armoured Car chassis so as to accompany mechanised units in deep strike missions. This was to complement the 35mm SPAAD ZA-35 that was also Rooikat based. I will post an article on this I have scanned from about 17 years back.
The South African SAHV-3 (Surface-to-Air High Velocity-3) missile programme was initiated in the mid-1980s, during the final phase of the Angolan campaign, when the South African National Defence Force (SANDEF) found that it could not provide sufficient air cover for its ground troops. The missile, believed to have been called Spectre, was designed as a plug-in replacement for the French Cactus/Crotale missiles, and SAHV is compatible with the Crotale fire unit including the command link receiver. A common RF/laser command link is used in both the Crotale and SAHV-3 systems, and the laser option has been incorporated in the baseline SAHV-3 model to ensure compatibility with the passive electro-optical tracking system specified by the South African Army. The first projected platform for the SAHV was Crotale 1000, a modernised version of the Cactus missile system in service with the SANDEF, but the latest version is Crotale 4000. The SAHV missile was designed to take alternative guidance systems, using assemblies already in development. The first option uses command guidance from the Crotale system, and is known as SAHV-3. A second option uses an IR homing seeker developed for the Darter air-to-air missile, and this variant was initially designated SAHV-IR, but is now known as Umkhonto (Spear). A third option, which employed an active radar seeker, was designated SAHV-RS. Models of these three versions were first displayed at exhibitions in 1991, but only the SAHV-3 version was built for production. The SAHV is expected to provide a complete air defence system against
By: wilhelm - 20th October 2008 at 12:54
The VLS “limitation” of the Umkhonto is only a problem insofar as existing Brazilian ships are concerned. It is not an exclusively naval missile. Land basing on trucks etc. are an option. What is the current status of SAMs in the Brazilian Army?
Denel are working on a truck-based land version of the Umkhonto SAM. I’m uncertain of the Brazilian Army’s SAM holdings at the moment.
Denel improves AWSAM missile Written by Leon Engelbrecht Monday, 12 May 2008 The state arms company upgrades its Umkhonto air defence missile. Denel, the state-owned arms company, has conceptualised a family of missiles based on its Umkhonto short-range air defence (SHORAD) system.This development will likely earn SA billions more in foreign exchange in the applied IT field.
The Umkhonto is in service with the South African and Finnish navies and is on order for the Swedish Navy and the SA Army.
The SA Army is to acquire the system as part of Project Protector, an as yet uncosted programme to give the Air Defence Artillery (ADA) a capability it has never previously enjoyed.
The ADA is taking a very SHORAD (VSHORAD) system into service as part of the R801 million Project Guardian, also known as phase one of the Ground-based Air Defence System (GBADS).
Protector, or GBADS 2, will see the Army get an extra punch. “It is the same missile that is used by the SA Navy, it will just be land-based,” says Denel Dynamics air defence missiles executive manager Machiel Oberholzer.
“We have signed an order for the study phase on the launcher. We have already quoted similar systems to other areas in the world,” Oberholzer adds.
“It is a good concept, six missiles in an ISO-container that can be mounted on any type of vehicle, that has a 360-degree engagement capability and a high kill probability due to is large [23kg] warhead.”
Umkhonto`s IT systems are countermeasure-resistant and do not need line-of-sight to the target to fire, but use lock-on-after-launch. It is modular and, therefore, easy to integrate into the military`s command and communications architecture or C4IRS (command, control, communications, computers, intelligence, reconnaissance and sensors).
Infrared boost
The current infrared-guided Umkhonto has a range of 12km. Oberholzer says this is being expanded as part of a pre-planned product improvement initiative. An extended-range infrared version is planned and will range up to 22km.
The company also plans to fit a radar seeker to Umkhonto to give the system the ability to shoot down aircraft and missiles in all weather conditions under the name AWSAM or all weather surface to air missile.
Oberholzer says the standard AWSAM will have a 20m range, while an extended range version fitted with a booster rocket (AWSAM-E) – will hit out up to 30km – which places it in the medium-range capability.
“This is the first time AWSAM is talked about,” Oberholzer says.
He adds that the advantage of such a family of missiles is that “you can have a cocktail of missiles in your launchers so you can engage with the most appropriate one to the threat. Infrared missiles are cheaper than radar and you don`t want to use an expensive missile to shoot down an easy target.”
By: Dodger67 - 20th October 2008 at 10:01
The VLS “limitation” of the Umkhonto is only a problem insofar as existing Brazilian ships are concerned. It is not an exclusively naval missile. Land basing on trucks etc. are an option. What is the current status of SAMs in the Brazilian Army?
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October 20, 2008 at 9:37 am