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From: bxr307@coombs.anu.edu.au (Brian)
Newsgroups: sci.military
Subject: Re: Future of SAM
Message-ID: <1991May10.063925.26433@amd.com>
Date: 9 May 91 05:02:39 GMT
References: <1991May7.062324.12399@amd.com> <1991May8.034456.11150@amd.com>
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From: bxr307@coombs.anu.edu.au (Brian)


fcrary@lightning.Berkeley.EDU (Frank Crary) writes:

>From: fcrary@lightning.Berkeley.EDU (Frank Crary)

>In article <1991May7.062324.12399@amd.com> Robert_Bell@mindlink.bc.ca (Robert Bell) writes:
>>I used to be sam technician in the British Army and i have yet to see a
>>low level sam system better than the British Aerospace RAPIER system.  It
>>comes in towed and tracked versions and is very accurate.  We used to
>>test fire them against towed drones which were approximately the same
>>size as HARM missiles and achieved kill rates in the upper 90% range.

>Although the RAPIER is a very nice SAM system, but I doubt it could 
>shoot down a HARM is flight. Most target drones are subsonic, while
>the AGM-88 HARM missile flys at greater than 2.5 Ma. Other anti-radiation
>missiles are also very supersonic. This makes them VERY hard to hit.

	I think that if the Rapier system was using the Blindfire engagement
system, it would have a very good chance of intercepting the HARM.  However
as the original poster was not attempting to imply that it could, I don't
see the point of this criticism.
	
	BTW Blindfire and Sea Wolf use elements of each other and have been
cross fertilising each other's programs.  I would presume that it would not
take very much effort to upgrade Rapier to a very good, last ditch CIWS
system for larger SAM's and radars.  But then why not team a Phalanx with each
radar to protect it from the ARM's?

	[Tread lightly in the fields of speculation, please. --CDR]
--
Brian Ross