IAI en route to extended range Barak-8ER
Israel Aerospace Industries (IAI) is expected to unveil the extended-range variant of its Barak-8 point and area defence system within the next 18 months.
Boaz Levy, Executive Vice President and General Manager, Systems Missiles and Space at IAI, told
IHS Jane’s that the Barak-8ER (extended range variant) is currently under “internal development as a growth path of the Barak-8″. The Barak-8ER – which, Levy noted, “leverages the current Barak-8 building blocks” – will be offered for both naval and land-based applications.
The Barak-8ER interceptor configuration was first unveiled as a concept at the 2009 Paris Air Show and is effectively a base model of the highly agile Barak-8 missile, with the addition of a large diameter solid-propellant jettisonable booster to the existing dual-pulse rocket motor. The latter is understood to be equipped with a thrust vector control (TVC) system. The booster’s addition to the ER variant effectively doubles the down-range capability of the Barak-8 interceptor to 150km, said Levy.
IAI is flagging Barak-8ER as a completely IAI-developed system, including the interceptor. The current Barak-8 interceptor is supplied by Rafael Advanced Defence Systems, although IAI says that the Barak-8ER interceptor “might include some Rafael components, but essentially it is a completely new interceptor”.
Levy said that for both naval and land applications the Barak-8ER system will be supplied with a modified six-cell variant of the eight-cell Barak-8 launcher, and that the Barak-8ER interceptor can also be adapted to other launcher configurations, including the US Navy’s eight-cell MK 41 vertical launch system (VLS).
However, he noted that the system engineering solution for the Barak-8ER allows it to leverage the existing Barak-8 architecture: the same IAI Elta ELM-2248 S-band digital active phased array Multi-Function Surveillance, Track, & Guidance Radar (MF-STAR) 360º radar (the Barak-8ER land variant uses the rotating Land-Based MF-STAR system), the same BMC4I system, (produced by IAI’s Defense Systems Division), and the same naval or land-based launcher – with some minor modification – used with the Barak-8. “This allows us to offer an expanded engagement envelope to the current system, with minimal hardware changes,” Levy said.
Designed to engage multiple beyond visual range threats, the low launch signature Barak-8ER is understood to retain the same autopilot/inertial navigation system and active radar seeker guidance as the Barak-8, although some modifications to the software and to the missile control surfaces are likely. The booster increases the length of the missile at launch from its current 4.5 m to nearly 6 m, although the length in flight after the booster has been jettisoned may be slightly less than the base Barak-8 missile, if a TVC is not present. The missile diameter and fin spans are thought to be the same as the base Barak-8. The booster weight is currently unknown, although the missile’s weight after the booster has been jettisoned is the same as that for the current Barak-8 configuration.
Levy said that initial operational capability (IOC) for Barak-8ER will first be declared for the naval variant, followed by IOC for the land variant. He declined to comment on a launch customer for Barak-8ER, but noted “existing Barak-8 customers will be interested in this configuration because it offers additional capability to their current system”. Levy would not speculate on Barak-8ER as a future option for the Israel Navy’s Sa’ar class corvettes, or the Indian Navy’s Project 15E Kolkata-class destroyers, which are set to be equipped with the Barak-8 system.
http://idrw.org/iai-en-route-to-extended-range-barak-8er/
