Mika IR passive infrared seeker is a dual-band infrared imaging seeker developed by French SAT company. It adopts dual-band electromechanical scanning scheme and perfect signal processing technology, with long action distance and strong anti-interference ability.
Vertical launch mika short-range air defense system
In July, 2000, French Aerospace-Matra Company (the manufacturer of Mika air-to-air missiles), spanair Manufacturing Company (CASA) and German DaimlerChrysler Aerospace Company (DASA) merged to form the European Aerospace Defense and Aerospace Company (EADS). The Mika missile will also be transferred to the European Missile Group (MBDA), a holding subsidiary of EADS. Subsequently, MBDA took over the follow-up development of the Mika missile. In 2000, at the Asia Air Show held in Singapore, MBDA publicly demonstrated their newly developed vertical launch system "VLMicaAirDefenceSystem" for the first time. The marketing manager of MBDA Company said at that time that the vertically launched "Mika" air defense missile system had undergone a series of successful ground tests and would be successfully developed within three years. According to MBDA's research, in six years, the vertically launched "Mika" missile can win the sales market of 654.38 billion US dollars. The 200 1 vertically launched "Mika" air defense missile was successfully launched for the first time at the Lund Experimental Center in France.
MBDA believes that since the mid-1990s, air threats have been increasing day by day, especially in strengthening the air force's saturation attack capability. As long as it is well coordinated, a large number of different types of air platforms (fixed-wing aircraft, helicopters, cruise missiles, drones) can be in the air from different heights and directions at the same time. Moreover, the radar reflection cross-sectional area of these air platforms is generally reduced, especially various precision-guided bombs, drones and cruise missiles, which have become a nightmare for ground air defense systems. In order to adapt to the changed battlefield situation and the traditional and emerging threats, the ground air defense system must have the following performance: 1. Ability to attack multiple targets at the same time; 2. Strong electronic warfare and anti-interference ability; 3. Decentralized deployment capability of launch, control and detection systems; 4. No dead ends. In addition, it should also have a lower life cycle cost to adapt to the shrinking trend of global defense funds; The training, use and maintenance are relatively simplified, the dependence on the logistics supply system is reduced, and the number of operators is also reduced. These requirements are difficult for traditional ground-based air defense missile systems to meet, especially for low detectable targets.
Based on the above judgment, MBDA believes that in the next decade, a number of surface-to-air missile systems will be retired because they cannot meet the needs of war. MBDA chose Mika as the object of improvement and key launch. The main reasons are: the medium-and long-range air defense missiles are technically difficult and the development risk is high, and the status of American Patriot PAC-3 and Russian S-300/400 series is difficult to shake in the short term. Relatively speaking, the technical difficulty of short-range air defense missiles is relatively low. In the next few years, a number of systems with technical level in the 1980s will be eliminated, which will leave a hole in the market.
For these reasons, MBDA chose the technologically advanced "Mika" air-to-air missile as the improvement object, integrated the concepts of vertical launch, decentralized deployment and modular structure, and launched the vertical launch "Mika" air defense missile system. Ambitious MBDA also divides the vertically launched Mika air defense missile system into land-based and sea-based variants, trying to capture them all from land to sea. Vertical launch is the biggest selling point of the new "Mika" missile. MBDA has previously developed a vertical launch system for the sea wolf air defense missile equipped by the British Navy (the specific development work was undertaken by British BAe Systems Company), and this transplant can be described as easy.
The vertically launched surface-to-air Mika air defense missile system is an open and decentralized module assembly. Each combat unit (called Tactical Action Center (TOC) by MBDA) includes the following modules: 1.4 The missile launch module is based on a 5-ton truck (which is also the chassis of the French Caesar's self-propelled howitzer), equipped with four modular standard launch boxes and two crew members. Usually, the launch box is placed horizontally on the chassis, and the hydraulic system completes the erection work when preparing for launch; 2. The radar detection module is a three-coordinate radar installed on the automobile chassis, with a maximum tracking distance of 50 kilometers and a maximum detection height of 9000 meters, and is equipped with an automatic friend or foe identification system; 3. The Tactical Command Center conducts remote command on the launch and detection module, and performs tasks such as threat analysis, target distribution and system monitoring. Due to the distributed system layout, the detection module, launch module and tactical command center are independent, and the whole combat unit will not be paralyzed because one module is destroyed. It ensures the high battlefield survival probability of the whole system. At the same time, MBDA introduced the concept of networked combat into the new Mika system, and strengthened the digital communication system between vehicles and combat troops. The data obtained by sensors (radar and infrared detectors) can flow freely within combat units or even between different units. In this way, the internal structure of the whole air defense network is no longer a hierarchical tree, but a network, and each module becomes a node in the network. Knocking out a node may weaken the combat capability of the whole network, but it will never lead to the complete paralysis of the traditional command structure. This generation difference in combat capability is especially reflected when the detection/command module is destroyed in the battle. When the traditional combat architecture encounters this situation, the combat unit will inevitably be paralyzed. In the network-based combat structure, even if a detection/command module is destroyed, the launching unit can still obtain shared information from the network and maintain its combat capability.
The missiles launched by ground-to-air Mika are basically the same as those launched by air-to-air Mika. It also has passive infrared and active radar guidance modes and thrust vector control capabilities. It can attack fixed-wing aircraft, helicopters, drones and air-to-surface missiles in all directions. The system has the ability to ignore after launch, and can fight all day and intercept multiple targets at the same time. The vertical launched Mika missile has a maximum speed of over Mach 3, a maximum shooting height of 9000m and a maximum range of 10- 12km (much smaller than Mika air-to-air missile). The vertically launched Mika air defense missile system has fast response capability. When it suddenly catches fire, it can launch 8 missiles within 12 seconds, with an average launch interval of 2 seconds.
If the surface-to-air Mika missile system highlights the characteristics of vertical launch and networked operations, then the ship-to-air Mika missile fully embodies MBDA's ability in cost calculation and psychological thinking of potential customers.
The basic operational performance of ship-to-air Mika missile is the same as that of ground-to-air missile. Its focus is on the organic integration with existing platforms and combat systems. Because the ship-to-air mika is also a modular vertical launching unit, its number can be increased or decreased at will to adapt to platforms with different tonnage, and it can be installed on the deck or superstructure of a ship as a whole. MBDA claims that installing the vertically launched ship-to-air "Mika" missile system will not destroy the original overall stealth capability of the ship, and can be effectively integrated with the ready-made sensor system on the ship, so there is no need to design a special fire control system or even a special console for Mika. This greatly reduces the cost of refitting the ship-to-air mika, which is very attractive for many countries with limited funds and eager to improve the air defense capability of ship points.
Evaluation of vertical launch mika missile
MBDA Company improved an air-to-air missile with a range of 50 kilometers into a short-range air defense missile with a range of 10 kilometers, eliminating the weakness of air-to-air Mika taking care of both ends but not both ends. Moreover, in the air defense missile system, the mixed installation of active radar and passive infrared guidance mode appeared for the first time, which greatly expanded its tactical application and made the air defense system have more countermeasures in the combat environment with strong electronic interference.
From the commercial point of view, the vertical launch "Mika" air defense missile system developed by MBDA Company is very successful. First of all, due to the use of a large number of mature technologies and components, the development risk is close to zero; Secondly, because the three main components of the vertical launch mika-missile, wheeled vehicle chassis and vertical launch system have been mass-produced, the fixed cost is low and the development cost is low, so the price of the vertical launch mika should be more advantageous. This has a great impact on sales performance in the context of the current national defense budget tightening; Since Mika has sold thousands of air-to-air missiles, it has formed a relatively stable user base. The successful export of air-to-air Mika has enabled buyers in the international market to have a deeper understanding of Mika's performance and after-sales service, so vertically launched Mika can definitely take a ride.