December 12th - WIP Part 3 - SAMday

Rapier FS'B'

The Rapier Field Standard "B" is the 2nd generation of the Rapier. (The FSC is the 3rd) that first saw service in the 1982 Falklands War. They we're combat proven according to the manufacturer form the first day of the landings. The reality is somewhat different. The Rapier did manage to down several Argentine aircraft but not without first having to overcome some serious problems.

The first problem was serviceability. The Rapier Launchers were never designed for sea voyages. The constant motion and banging around played havoc with the electronics. Not to mention the damp sea air causing corrosion. On the first few days of the landings (i think) only one Rapier was actually operational and then only in optical mode! The rest were non functional due to the rough crossing.

You see the FSB had 2 modes of operation: An autonomous Radar system that tracked the aircraft and guided the missile in and a semi manual Optical system operated from a remote 'turret'.

The reason the radar was not working was less a mechanical issue and more of a lack of foresight. In the bay where the landings took place there were several large warships providing protection for the landing craft. Each of these was busily jamming every radio and radar frequency possible effectively blinding the Rapier. Later versions addressed this with a much improved radar system and an upgraded missile.

For the purposes of ArmA we chose the FSB as a “Res” SAM unit.  The idea was to provide each side with a comparable air defence system.  Its modern enough to still be a credible threat in the modern world and is still in service with several nations.  Unlike the FSC the FSB is a two tier system with the option of manual control via the Optical Tracker (not shown).

• DN-181 Blindfire Fire Control Radar (FCR)
• Launcher with 4x Missiles

As with the FSC the FSB has some redundancy built in.  If the FCR is destroyed the Launcher can function on its own albeit at a reduced range.

The MIM-23 Improved HAWK

The HAWK System has been around since 1959 and has evolved into many different varients.Its stil in service with over 20 nations world wide although quite a few of these are actively seeking replacments. The most likely of these is the NASAMS system offered by Kongsberg. The appeal of this appears to be that there is a conversion kit available that converts the old HAWK launchers to uses the new NASAMS/AMRAAM missiles therefore reducing the const of conversion.

Chosen as a RES and OPFOR weapon system the I-HAWK was intended to be a medium range SAM to compliment the Short range ManPADS and SHORt range Air Defence (SHORAD) systems providing a layered defence network. As withthe other FCSS enabled addons it has 3 components.

• Launcher with 3x Missiles (as shown)
• MPQ-64 Sentinel Radar
• AN/TPS-75 Search Radar

Now the I-HAWk really only needs the Sentinal Radar to function properly but its usually part of a wider Radar network so we've chosen to pair it with the AN/TPS-75 Search Radar. Its fair to assume that any nation able to buy and support the I-HAWK will also have a resonable Search Radar to go with it.

MIM-72 Chaparral

This is unusual in our SAM projects inthat it really doesnt utilise the FCSS's capabilities by default. The MIM-72 is a Infra Red system using the older AIM-9D sidewinder so isnt linked into any radars. However there is nothing preventing it being added to a FCSS enabled air defence group so that it won't missile spam and waste its ammo.