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ASRAAM (Advanced Short Range Air-to-Air Missile) is the most agile,
modern air-to-air missile designed to dominate the combat mission from
Within Visual Range to near Beyond Visual Range.
The combat concept behind ASRAAM is designed to give the pilot the
ability to engage the enemy, fire and get away without risking himself
or his aircraft in a dogfight. ASRAAM unique capabilities enable it to
defeat all short-range missiles, existing or planned, in close-in
combat.
The Advanced Short Range Air-to-Air Missile (ASRAAM) is being procured
as a replacement for the Sidewinder air-to-air missile. ASRAAM is
in service with the RAF Tornado F3 and will be carried by Typhoon.
The first deliveries of pre-production training missiles were delivered
to the RAF in December 1998, and are in use on aircraft integration
programmes and at the F3 OEU. The first operational missile deliveries
commenced in January 2002. The RAF Tornado F3 fleet has been equipped
to operate with ASRAAM, and
work is underway to integrate the missile on to Typhoon.
ASRAAM - NEXT GENERATION HIGH PERFORMANCE SHORT
RANGE AIR TO AIR MISSILE
ASRAAM is a next generation high performance, Short Range, air-to-air
missile which offers a great increase in performance over current systems,
and provides combat superiority against all present and projected threats.
The design is wingless, with aerodynamic tail control giving a fast,
highly agile missile. Target acquisition and track is achieved by an
advanced imaging infrared seeker and state of the art image processing.
The Electronics and Power Unit, the brain of the missile, is one of
the most powerful computer systems ever used in a missile. It offers
all round target designation to complement the aircraft's own sensors,
allowing targets to be acquired anywhere in the forward hemisphere.
The missile has been designed as a hittile; however, target kill is
enhanced by the high energy, fragmentation warhead which is initiated
either by impact or by proximity to the target.
ASRAAM is delivered to the RAF as a fully assembled missile in an All-up-Round
(AUR), hermetically sealed container. The missile has been designed
to remain in its container throughout its life and to be ready for operational
use without any preparation or maintenance. In the event of a missile
fault, the complete missile is returned to industry for repair.
ASRAAM - A LOW RISK, LOW COST SOLUTION
ASRAAM offers a low risk, low-cost solution to all current AIM 9 users
by virtue of its compatible aircraft interface; the missile can be fitted
to any aircraft capable of firing AIM 9 without modification to the
aircraft or aircraft interface. Greater performance and more advanced
features are available for aircraft that can support a digital interface
to the missile.
The ASRAAM programme was let at a contract value of around £800m. Deliverables
include Ground Handling Training Missiles (GHTM), Acquisition Training
Missiles (ATM), Telemetry Operational Missiles (TOM), Operational Missiles
(OM) and service test equipment.
COMMERCIAL ASPECTS
Matra BAE Dynamics are the prime contractor for ASRAAM and manufacture
the Electronics and Power Unit. Major sub-contractors include Raytheon
Systems Ltd for the Seeker, Royal Ordnance the Rocket Motor, LFK GmbH
the Sensor, Hymatic Engineering the Cooling System, Thomson-Thorn Missile
Electronics the Fuze, Thompson DASA Wirksysteme (Germany) the Warhead
and Lucas Aerospace the Actuator.
The main competition for ASRAAM on the world market is the US AIM-9X
missile, still in development, and which uses a variant of the ASRAAM
seeker, and the Israeli Python 4. Germany are also developing their
own IRIS T missile to equip their Typhoon aircraft.
INTERNATIONAL PARTICIPATION
ASRAAM entered service with the Royal Australian Air Force's (RAAF)
F/A-18 Hornet aircraft in August 2004. The Hornet is the first
American-built fighter to be equipped with a European air-to-air
missile.
The ASRAAM system concept and design engineering allows for significant
growth potential to the missile's capability throughout its life, not
only on the Tornado, Typhoon and F/A-18 but also for the future F-35
Joint Strike Fighter.
