H-2 is glide bomb Raptor 1 and H-4 is rocketpowered bomb with 120KM range and 400KG warhead.

395 words
18 March 1998
Flight International
17
English

Douglas Barrie/LONDON

Kentron, South Africa’s leading missile manufacturer, is offering unpowered and powered versions of its still classified Raptor precision guided weapon for export. Details have been seen by Flight International.

Development of the stand-off weapons family, the export of which remains a sensitive issue in South Africa, has been under way for two decades. Kentron declines to comment on the project.

The Raptor 1, thought to be known internally within the South African Air Force (SAAF) as H2, is a television-guided glide bomb with a range of around 60km (32nm). The weapon, believed to have been used operationally, is a development of the H1-a TV-guided bomb which was effectively a technology testbed.

Development of the Raptor 1 began in the late 1970s and it is believed to have entered operational service no later than the mid-1980s on the SAAF’s Dassault Mirage F1.The weapon was carried on an inboard wing station on the F1, with the datalink pod carried on the other inboard wing station. On SAAF Cheetah aircraft, the weapon is carried on the centre-line pylon.

In the late 1980s, Kentron also began to work on an extended range version of the basic glide bomb, the H3, which has more than double the launch envelope of the H2. The H3 appears to have been a development for what is referred to for export as the Raptor 2.

The Raptor 2 is being offered with TV and infra-red seekers. An accuracy of a 3m centre of error probability is given for the weapon. An anti-radiation seeker is also being offered as an alternative guidance option to allow the weapon to be used in the suppression of enemy air defences.

The range improvement is derived from a solid fuel motor pack attached to the underside of the guided weapon. The Raptor 2 can be fitted with both fragmentation and penetration warheads. Navigation for the weapon is provided either by the global positioning system or by way point updates.

Kentron is also continuing to receive limited SAAF funding for the MUPSOW long-range stand-off missile. The propulsion unit from the MUPSOWis also being used by GEC-Marconi in its bid to provide the United Arab Emirates with a stand-off weapon, the PGM-4, or the Centaur.

thanks for the article. May I assume Super Darter and a version of
Grifo is the probable choice and RC-400 is off the list ?

is the A-darter or a new version of U-darter the WVR missile of choice?

Your assumptions are correct because all PAF new missiles are integrated on Grifo equipped Mirages or F-7 so Change of Radar for JF-17 is highly unlikely unless there is some major deficiency in Grifo S-7.
A-Dater is also the most probable option as mentioned in AFM interview.
http://www.dawn.com/2004/04/17/top6.htm
“We have now selected the BVR missiles for integration into the JF-17 Thunder. We made a breakthrough recently by acquiring the technology,” he said. He said the JF-17 would also carry H-2 and H-4 bombs.

1. A-darter is totally new missile nothing to do with U-darter. Advance versions of U-Dater may use A-Darter Seeker but not the Airframe.

2. R-darter is similar performance to Derby around 50KM range.

3 That Super Darter is T-darter developed from SAM missile with range of 70KM. it is

not on website because tech was sold.

28 April 1999
Flight International
17

Paul Lewis/RIO DE JANEIRO

Denel plans soon to begin guided testing of the Kentron A-Darter air-to-air missile (AAM), while pursuing derivative naval and AAM developments of its SAHV-3 surface-to-air missile system.

The South African manufacturer is pushing ahead with work on the A-Darter, with the help of technology funding in the absence of a full-scale development budget. It has completed two years of test firing to validate the missile’s propulsion and ballistics.

Denel hopes to widen testing by the end of the year to include a new, indigenously developed, imaging infrared seeker. Also under local development is a helmet-mounted sight for off-boresight missile cueing. The missile is being promoted as an alternative to the Matra British Aerospace Advanced Short Range Air-to-Air Missile.

The company, speaking at a recent defence show in Brazil, says that the A-Darter seeker could also be adapted as a future enhancement to the new, vertically launched, Umkhonto missile under development for the South African navy’s planned four Meko 100-class corvettes. The 12km (7 mile)-range missile under test is fitted with a simpler infrared seeker than that of the earlier U-Darter AAM, to keep costs down, according to Denel.

Initial and mid-course guidance is provided by the ship until the infrared seeker can lock on in the terminal phase. The Umkhonto draws much of its design from the land launched SAHV-3 system, including a 180mm-diameter body, servo-powered tail control and thrust vectoring vanes in the motor nozzle for launch control.

It is understood that the SAHV 3 also forms the basis of South Africa’s T-Darter beyond-visual-range air-to-air missile proposal to Pakistan for its planned Super 7 fighter, rather than the R-Darter as earlier reported.

The missile, which is still at the concept stage, would incorporate a tail control, active-radar guided seeker head and datalink for mid-course correction (Flight International, 24 February-2 March).

FC-1 with rectangular nose and space between cockpit and nose. CFT is also a possilbility.

Yahoo can you provide me with the phd that you have, you seem to know measument while looking, impressive.

There are no dimensions for the LCA nose, we are dealing with inches here, Arthur claims that it is too small, well too small relative to what?
the M2000? Gripen?
then he must provide numbers to show the comparison and the dimension of those extra gear that won;’t apparently fit.
I am asking very scientific and logical questions here, or I will rvert to speculating, an accepted tool on the forum.

here is Gripen photo. Clear space between nose and cockpit.

here is LCA no space between nose and cockpit.

No need to discuss what is obvious.

From thi diagram you can tell that it is so obvious that the LCA is nose is x inches smaller with x cm diameter smaller than a Mirage 2000?
woiw. uou really are something else.

Just look at cockpit seat. The Antenna is not bigger than it.

Why you cannot see the Small Cockpit and from there the nose dimension comes. There is no such thing as measurement needed when every thing is so obvious.