At
the International Defence Industry Exhibition MSPO 2012 which was held
in September 2012 in Poland, WZU (and its program partners Thales Netherlands
and Raytheon) presented a new air defence missile system called the
"BIRDS". The whole system is based on the PELICAN launcher
vehicle armed with Sparrow missile. The BIRDS air defense system uses
a Rosomak wheeled armoured vehicle with the Thales SWALLOW tracking
and illuminating radar based on the naval radar and EO tracking system
STIR 1.2 EO Mk2. This vehicle with the SWALLOW radar has been designed
for precise target tracking, and for guiding SPARROW RIM-162 ESSM missiles.
The components of the STIR 1.2 GB tracking and illuminating radar system
include I-band target-tracking impulse transmitter, tracking receiver,
continuous I-band illuminating transmitter, SAC antenna power and control
unit, missile guidance unit (MGU), control station, and operating station.
|
| Radar
system |
The SWALLOW
radar has been designed for precise target tracking, and for
guiding SPARROW RIM-162 ESSM missiles. It enables tracking
low-RCS targets in the I-band. It features a solid-state transmitter
enabling fast switching to one of many operating frequencies,
in order to avoid interference. The receiving unit employs
an impulse compression and passive interference elimination
unit, based on Fourier analysis. The radar is equipped with
navigation and leveling system. It can operate in two regimes:
tracking and guiding. The radar antenna is mounted on top
at the centre of the hull, it can rotate on 360° with
an elevation from -30° to +120° and rotation speed
of 90° in less than 1.2 sec. The radar has a range of
72 km with range resolution of 100 m.
|
The
SWALLOW Thales radar antenna is mounted on top at the centre
of the hull. |
| Design
and protection |
The
layout of the Rosomak (Polish version of the AMV
Patria) SWALLOW is standard with the driver at
the front with the engine at its right and the crew compartment
at the rear with the control and operating station. The armor
thickness of the Rosomak vehicle had to protect against hits
with 14.5 mm projectiles from the front hemisphere, 7.62 mm
projectiles from sides, rear and top, and against shrapnel of
artillery shells of up to 155 mm caliber, while the hull and
chassis were to protect against the effects of detonating a
mine with up to 6 kg of explosive under any wheel. The vehicle
is fully amphibious being propelled in the water by two propellers
mounted at the rear of the hull. |
Control
and operating station are fitted in the crew compartment at
the rear of the vehicle. |
| Propulsion |
At
MSPO 2012, the SWALLOW radar was carried on the 8x8 chassis
of armoured vehicle personnel carrier Rosomak, but it can be
also mounted on a tracked vehicle, ensuring mechanical mounting
of the radar antenna along with drive units, as well as the
crew compartment with control and data transmission equipment
The Rosomak SWALLOW is motorized with a 6 cylinder engine with
turbocharging Scania D1 12 56A03 PE, with maximal force 360
kW/ 2100 turn per minute, and with permanence force 294 kW /
2100 turn per minute. The vehicle can run at a maximum road
speed of 100 km with a maximum range of 500 km.
|
| Combat
use |
The
SWALLOW radar is compatible with any functioning air defense
missile set or a digital network centric command centre. It
is topographically related to the set or system, receiving detected
target parameters. After acquiring the indicated target, it
signals tracking at the command centre, at the same time transmitting
data on the target to the launcher and ESSM SPARROW RIM-162
missile. After the launcher instruments and missiles indicate
ready- to-fire status, the missile is launched at the tracked
target by the command centre. Meanwhile, target illuminating
transmitter is activated on the radar. The process of semi-active
missile guidance takes place. In the case of multiple targets
being indicated for destruction by the command centre, multichannel
tracking procedure is initiated along with guidance of successively
launched missiles.
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| |
| Specifications |
 Back
to top |
Type
of vehicle |
Tracking
and illuminating radar for the BIRDS air defence
missile system |
Country
users |
| Prototype
Poland |
Designer
Country |
| Poland
|
Accessories |
| Night
vision, NBC protection system, air conditioning
|
Crew |
1
+ 4 soldiers |
|
Armor |
| Basic
protection against small arms 7.62mm, 14.5 mm
at the front, mine blast, shell splinters. |
Radar
Range |
72 km |
Radar
range resolution |
100
m |
Static
accuracy |
Less
than 0,3 mrad
|
Dimensions
vehicle |
Length,
7.7 m; Width, 2.8 m; |
|
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