Aselsan teams up with Thales for FAC missile upgrades

[Lankan Ranger]

Aselsan teams up with Thales for FAC missile upgrades

Turkey’s military electronics giant Aselsan has teamed with Thales and fast boat builder Yonca-Onuk to develop a compact shipborne launcher system for its Lightweight Multirole Missile (LMM) collateral precision weapon.

Designed to give fast interceptor craft increased punch, the LMM Missile Launcher System (MLS) combines a two-axis gyrostabilised turret accommodating four ready-to-launch LMM missiles, an off-mount stabilised electro-optical (EO) director (incorporating a laser transmitter unit to support LMM laser beamriding guidance) and a bridgemounted control and display unit.

The MLS can automatically slew onto target coordinates assigned by the EO suite.

This configuration, say the three companies, has been engineered to have minimum impact on speed and manoeuvrability of the host platform. Furthermore, MLS turret stabilisation enables missile firing to be unaffected by platform motions.

LMM has been designed by Thales as a low-cost, laser-guided missile able to engage a wide range of air, land and sea targets out to ranges of about 8km. Building on the pedigree of the companys existing Starburst and Starstreak surface-to-air missiles, the new weapon is intended to exploit proven subsystems and technologies while emphasising a value-engineered approach.

A 3kg blast fragmentation/shaped charge warhead has been designed to combine localised effect with good armour penetration.

The laser proximity fuze, using low-cost gate technology set at the point of launch, is designed to ensure that the missile can successfully engage very low metal, semi-solid targets, such as rigid inflatables, which many rockets pass through before detonating.

Aselsan teams up with Thales for FAC missile upgrades | TRDEFENCE

 

[Penguin]

Lightweight Multi-role Missile
LMM is a low cost, lightweight, precision strike, missile, which has been designed to be fired from tactical platforms including fixed or rotary winged UAV s and surface platforms. The system is designed to provide a rapid reaction to a wide range of the surface threats from wheeled or tracked vehicles, towed artillery or static installations; naval threats from small ships and fast inshore attack craft and an air threat from light aircraft.

Key features:

•Multi-role capability for light and heavy platforms
•Surface to surface, surface to air, surface to ground
•Precision strike, low collateral damage
•Range out to 8 kilometres
•Low cost


Thales is the prime contractor for all VSHORAD activities in the UK and manufactures missiles such as Starstreak, Hellfire, VT1, NLAW and LMM.

Lightweight Multi-role Missile - Thales

Powered by a Roxel two-stage solid propellant motor and to carry a 3kg blast/fragmentation warhead, the LMM is planned to have a unit cost of just 50-60% that of a Starstreak missile.



© Thales UK


Guidance will initially be provided using a laser seeker, with three of the weapon's forward wings having independent steering. However, Thales plans to later integrate a low-cost semi-active laser being developed within the company, or possibly introduce an INS/GPS terminal homing capability.

Thales reveals new lightweight missile for UAVs, helicopters