A-Darter undergoes further testing

The A-Darter fifth generation air-to-air missile has undergone further testing, with a successful launch on Monday.

During the most recent test, from a South African Air Force Gripen fighter, an A-Darter was launched at a target drone on a perpendicular trajectory to the launch aircraft, and at substantial distance. The missile’s targeting system locked on to the target, flying 600 metres above the launch aircraft, the Brazilian Air Force said.

The success of the flight test marks one of the final stages of the missile development. According to Brazilian Air Force Colonel Julius Caesar Cardoso Tavares, the project manager for Brazil, with this release A-Darter is over 90% complete. It is expected that production will commence before the end of this year and the programme will be ready in the first half of 2016, and should eventually equip the Brazilian Air Force’s Gripen NG fighters as well as the Gripen C/Ds and Hawks of the South African Air Force.

According to Tavares, the main feature of the latest generation of missiles is the ability to perform high-performance manoeuvres. "The guidance sensor detects the target and the missile then calculates the best route to intercept."

The A-Darter is the flagship project of Denel Dynamics, the division in the group responsible for advanced systems technology in the missile and UAV environments.

With a length of 2.98 meters and weighing 90 kg, the A-Darter is not fitted with the normal small forward wings used for manoeuvring. In their stead, the missile steers by directing the thrust of its rocket engine. It is thus able to perform manoeuvres that include load factors of up to 100 g, when the most modern fighter jets cannot exceed 9 g.

Guided by a heat-seeking homing head, the A-Darter also can "see" more of an infrared frequency and can thus avoid being deceived by "flares", incandescent bait thrown by enemy aircraft to confuse missiles. Its maximum range is 12 miles (19 km).

The development partnership between South Africa and Brazil on the A-Darter began in 2006 and the goal is that both countries produce components for future exports. "In future, sales will be shared. There is already as agreement between the companies," said Tavares.

South Africa, with missile development experience since the 1960s, sought to partner with Brazil due to the complexity of the project. "It's a high-tech missile," said Tavares. He said the A-Darter has innovations dominated by few countries in the world, which is not transferred when there is the purchase of weapons. "No one teaches how to do that," he said.

Three hundred million Brazilian réals (R1.3 billion) have been invested in the A-Darter so far, half being directed to Brazilian companies including Mectron, Avibras and Optoelectronics.

Source: defenceWeb