South Africa, Brazil to Develop A-Darter SRAAM
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Denel Pty Ltd.’s missile/UAV subsidiary Denel Dynamics has entered into a joint development agreement with Brazil’s Ministry of Defence and Forca Aerea Brasileira for the A-Darter short range air-air missile (SRAAM), signed as a government to government agreement via South Africa’s Armscor. The original contract was apparently signed in July-August 2006, but the formal cooperation launch was announced at the April 2007 Latin American Aerospace and Defence exhibition in Brazil.
With the SRAAM export market already crowded by high-end products like the AA-11 Archer (Russia), AIM-9M/X Sidewinder (USA), ASRAAM (UK), IRIS-T (Germany & European), and Python 4/5 (Israel), one may legitimately wonder what this development deal will involve, and where the Agile-Darter will fit in terms of capabilities, design philosophy, and market positioning.
This article addresses the A-Darter, and those market issues. The most recent news is South Africa’s selection of the IRIS-T as its “interim” SRAAM…
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The A-Darter missile is expected to be a 5th generation weapon, with a number of important capabilities and design decisions similar to ASRAAM. It will use modern thermal imaging technology with a wide “boresight angle” for targeting, working with a helmet-mounted look and shoot sight to maximize the usefulness of that “high off-boresight” capability. A-Darter also uses a very similar streamlined design to maximize range. To take maximum advantage of that design decision, lock-on after launch capability will allow it to fly to an area specified by the launching aircraft by using an inertial navigation system from BAE Systems, before acquiring the target with its seeker head. There is no word, however, on whether the missile’s datalink is intended to allow for updates in flight, in order to prevent the wrong target from being engaged once it reaches the end of its inertial navigation.
Denel says that “Current contracts exceed R1 billion [currently about $145 million] in total and future export contracts are expected to add another R2 billion over this fifteen-year period.”
In such a crowded SRAAM market, where integration of a non-standard weapon can be a difficult and expensive endeavor, a new missile can be a difficult sell. A clue to its positioning may be provided by the statement of Denel’s spokesperson Joe Makhafola:
“The co-development of the missile… not only brings much-needed skills, training and technology transfer to the country, but reinforces the South-South co-operation initiated by President Thabo Mbeki and his counterpart.”
This is certainly an explanation of the industrial strategy involved, which seeks to boost the indigenous aerospace industries in both countries. It may also be a lead-in to the missile’s marketing in many 3rd world countries, as a no strings weapon with a so-called non-aligned positioning. Whether this marketing approach will be successful remains to be seen. First, of course, the missile development itself must succeed.
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The A-Darter is slated to equip South Africa’s JAS-39 C/D Gripens, and will replace the indigenous Mectron MAA-1 Piranha missile in Brazil. Brazil’s upgraded F-5M Tiger IIs are an agreed-upon platform; the A-4 Skyhawks that fly from the Brazilian Carrier Sao Paulo (formerly FMS Foch) and carry AIM-9H Sidewinder missiles are also test candidates.
Brazil’s other SRAAM-capable aircraft include the FAB’s Italo-Brazilian AMX light attack aircraft and indigenous EMB-314 Super Tucanos. Cooperation with Elbit of Israel will give the F-5M, AMX, and EMB-314 aircraft a very similar set of avionics, which is likely to make common missile integration easier; Israel’s Derby 4 missile is already slated for integration as the FAB’s radar-guided counterpart on the F-5Ms. The country’s new squadron of refurbished Mirage 2000 fighters from France, however, may prove more difficult to modify.
While a certain amount of development has already been completed by Denel, Brazil’s FAB gives an expected in-service date of 2015. There are estimates that Brazil’s 50% share of the remaining development costs could rise to over $100 million before the missile is complete. At present, $52 million is allocated.
Denel says that it expects to employ at least 200 engineers over the duration of the contract, and hopes to use the program to attract young engineers to the company. while this is an excellent long-term strategy, it would have development implications if implemented. Meanwhile, 10 Brazilian air force members have begun work on the program at the Denel Dynamics plant, to be joined by another 20 people from “the Brazilian defence companies.” The FAB’s Aerospace Technical Centre (CTA) will assemble the Brazilian industrial end of the deal; rumored firms include Metcon, Avibras, and Atech.
Contracts and Key Events
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May 28/08: Diehl BGT announces that the South African Air Force has picked the IRIS-T short range air-to-air missile to equip their Gripen fighter aircraft “as an interim solution until the local missile development – the A Darter – will be operational.” This makes them IRIS-T’s 2nd export customer outside the original 7-nation consortium.
The South African arms acquisition organization Armscor placed a contract order for the IRIS-T missiles “in the second half of May 2008,” and the missiles will become operational on SAAF Gripens in 2009. Industrial offsets are also involved, which will be tricky given the A-Darter’s explicit status as a future competitor. Read “South Africa Orders IRIS-T Missiles” for more.
