| Aster | |
|---|---|
| Type | Aster 15 Short/medium range surface-air anti-aircraft and anti-missile missile Aster 30 Long range anti-aircraft, anti-missile missile and anti-ballistic missile.[1] |
| Service history | |
| In service | 2001 |
| Production history | |
| Manufacturer | MBDA |
| Specifications | |
| Weight | 310 kg (Aster 15) 450 kg (Aster 30)[2] |
| Length | 4.2 m(Aster 15) 4.9 m(Aster 30) |
| Diameter | 180 mm |
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| Warhead | Directed fragmentation |
| Detonation mechanism |
Proximity |
|
|
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| Engine | Solid propellant two-stage rocket |
| Operational range |
1.7–30 km (Aster 15) 3–120 km (Aster 30) |
| Flight altitude | 13 km maximum (Aster 15) 20 km (Aster 30) |
| Speed | Mach 3 (1000 m/s) (Aster 15) Mach 4.5; 1,400 m/s (Aster 30) |
| Guidance system |
Telemetry uplink, terminal active radar homing |
| Launch platform |
Aster 15 :
Aster 30 :
|
Aster is a family of surface-to-air missiles manufactured by Eurosam, a European consortium consisting of MBDA France, MBDA Italy (combined 66%) and the Thales Group (33%).
Contents |
The Aster family was developed to perform three distinct missions:
Aster 15 and 30 missiles differ only in the size of their booster - total weights being 310 kg and 450 kg respectively. Aster 30 requires the longer tubes of the SYLVER A50 launcher, but its range is extended from 30 kilometres (19 mi) to 120 kilometres (75 mi). Aster 30 is also capable of ballistic missile defense.
During the 1980s, the predominant missiles in Franco-Italian service were short-range, such as the French Crotale, Italian Aspide or American Sea Sparrow, with ranges up to a dozen kilometres. Some vessels were also equipped with the American medium/long range Standard.
France and Italy decided to start development of a domestic medium/long range surface-to-air missile, to enter service in the first decade of this millennium, that would give them comparable range and superior interception capability to the American Standard or British Sea Dart already in service. Thought was given in particular to the new missile's ability to intercept next-generation supersonic anti-ship missiles, such as the Brahmos missile developed jointly by India and Russia.
This allowed the actual systems to have the characteristic of being specialised either in short-to-medium range "point defence" (ships, for instance), or in medium-to-long range "zone defence" (fleets).
The resulting Aster surface-to-air missile meets inter-service and international requirements, addressing the needs of the land, air and naval forces of France, Italy and the United Kingdom. The decision to base the missile around a common terminal intercept 'dart' to which different sized boosters can be attached has made it modular and extensible.
Aster features two significant improvements over the previous generation of missiles:
New control system: control flaps are associated with four powder maneuver rockets at the center of gravity of the missile (also referred to as PIF-PAF for Pilotage induit en force—Pilotage aérodynamique en force). The system prevents a rupture of the missile under high-g maneuvers during trajectory corrections, and allows such maneuvers to be performed without losing aerodynamic performances, improving the precision of the impact on target. A standard launch of the Aster can include 90-degree trajectory changes.[3]
The shipboard radar fulfills roles of sentry, meteo, target discrimination, acquisition and chase. It is capable of simultaneously tracking 300 flying objects, discriminating around 60, and guiding up to 16 missiles.
As of April 2008, the Aster has never been used in actual combat. During trials, between 1993 and 1994, all flight sequences, altitudes and ranges, were validated. This was also the period during which the launch sequence of Aster 30 was validated. In May 1996, trials of the Aster 15 active electromagnetical final guidance system against live targets began. All six attempts were successful: