Author: Lan Shunzheng
First published from: "China Aerospace News"
On February 27, 2024, it was reported that the first flight test of the new version of the extended range Amram-ER missile developed for the National Advanced Surface-to-Air Missile System (NASAMS) tested the performance of the new missile and its compatibility with the launcher.
NASAMS is a short- to medium-range surface-to-air missile system jointly developed by Kongsberg and Raytheon in Norway, which began to equip troops in 1995 and formed initial combat capability in 1998. In 2005, the United States and Norway introduced an upgraded version of the NASAM-2 anti-aircraft missile system with a new radar, datalink and fire control system, which has been procured by several countries, including the United States and Norway. It is reported that the NASAMS-2 system is upgraded and improved on the basis of the NASAMS system, and the main improvements include equipping NATO Link16 data links and improving the coverage of radar systems. Link 16 is an information distribution system integrating communication, navigation, command and control, and identification, which has the characteristics of large capacity, high speed, anti-jamming, high secrecy, and multiple access for time divisions, and adopts a variety of anti-reconnaissance and anti-jamming measures, which can effectively unite various combat platforms on the battlefield. This datalink enhances NASAMS-2 interoperability, mobility, and supports operation in a network-centric environment, which can improve the system's immunity to interference.
A complete NASAMS-2 anti-aircraft missile launch battalion, consisting of 9 to 12 missile launchers (each loaded with 6 anti-aircraft missiles, stored in a sealed protective launch kit), 4 Raytheon AN/MPQ-64F1 "Sentinel" X-band CMM-to-air radar vehicles (with a maximum detection range of 120 kilometers and can track 54 targets simultaneously), 1 4x4 tactical vehicle equipped with a fire control center, and 3 to 4 equipped with MSP500 optoelectronic / The infrared detection system consists of 4x4 light tactical vehicles and 1 tactical control unit vehicle. In the process of development and improvement, the NASAMS-2 air defense missile system attaches great importance to mobility, and its missile launch system can be deployed in a fixed launch frame or mounted on various wheeled vehicles to transform into a mobile air defense system. The complete system and all its components can be transported by air by C-130 transport aircraft or transport helicopters.
The NASAMS air defense system originally mainly used the SL-AMRAAM missile, that is, the ground-launched improved version of the American AIM-120C7 air-to-air missile, which uses active radar homing terminal guidance, and the power plant is a double-thrust smokeless solid rocket engine, equipped with a high-energy explosive directional fragmentation warhead, with the ability to "launch and forget", the maximum range when launched from the ground is about 30 kilometers, and the maximum launch height is 15 kilometers. The AMRAAM-ER missile mentioned this time is another new medium-range anti-aircraft missile developed by Raytheon for the NASAMS air defense system, also known as the SL-AMRAAM-ER missile, which is designed to hit all kinds of air targets, including fixed-wing aircraft, cruise missiles, rotorcraft and unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs). This type of missile is a product that combines the active radar guidance head of the AIM-120 air-to-air missile with the body of the "Advanced Sea Sparrow" (ESSM) missile.
In the original version, Raytheon installed the AIM-120C7 missile guidance bay with a diameter of about 178 mm on the engine and control compartment of the ESSM with a diameter of 254 mm. The AMRAAM-ER missile is 305 mm longer than the AIM-120 missile, and is similar to the ESSM and SM-2 "standard" anti-aircraft missiles in aerodynamic layout, and the entire missile body is no longer a single-diameter cylindrical projectile of the AIM-120, but the diameter of the projectile body is increased from the warhead, and the missile is more robust, and the missile adopts the ESSM and SM-2 "standard" In addition to the advantages of strengthening the aerodynamic layout, there is also the role of the reinforcing ribs of the missile body, so that the missile is not easy to break and disintegrate in the case of high maneuverability and large overload.
The AMRAAM-ER missile retains the active radar seeker, data link and warhead of the AIM-120C7 missile, and has the same excellent interception accuracy and multi-target interception capability as the AIM-120, especially with the advanced two-way data link. It is said that the AMRAAM-ER missile also uses a new intelligent algorithm to optimize the trajectory to make full use of the thrust of the engine, making the flight trajectory of the missile more scientific during interception of the target, and improving the ballistic performance of the missile, with a maximum launch height of about 25 kilometers and a maximum range of 50 kilometers.
In 2021, the AMRAAM-ER missile was put into production. On April 20 and 22, 2021, Raytheon Technologies and Kongsberg completed the first launch test of two AMRAAM-ER programmable test missiles (CTVs) in Norway, evaluating missile performance and launcher interfaces, and their key flight data will be used to improve software algorithms for future missiles.
And the AMRAAM-ER missile tested this time should be a new version. According to the data, this version of the AMRAAM-ER missile uses the AIM-120C8 guidance cabin, a 254-millimeter-diameter hydroxyl polybutadiene (HTPB) solid-propelled rocket engine developed by the Norwegian company NammoRaufoss (the thrust curve of the missile is improved according to its required mission parameters), and a new control steering system developed by the KDA company that optimizes the flight control algorithm.