Last of the Air Defence Sea Harriers

[+ghostrider883 526]

Navy to network-target test Derby AAM from upgraded Sea Harrier

 

As part of the Limited Upgrade Sea Harrier (LUSH), the Indian Navy will shortly conduct its second live firing test of the Israeli Derby beyond visual range air-to-air missile (BVRAAM), a weapon system that has been integrated to the last of the Navy's Sea Harriers as part of the upgrade programme. While the first live firing of the Derby active-radar seeker missile was conducted using the aircraft's primary sensor, the next test will be from one of the Navy's upgraded Sea Harriers with its radar switched off. Guidance will be provided from another platform, either on the ground or in the air.

 

According to Navy sources, the LUSH programme has made the Sea Harriers fully new aircraft. The heart of the upgrade is of course the replacement of the venerable old Ferranti Blue Fox monopulse airborne intercept radar with the time-tested EL/M-2032 multimode advanced pulse doppler radar. The new radar, in the words of one of the pilots, has put the aircraft in "a different league". While sea clutter proved to be the bane of look-down missions with the Blue Fox radar (the sweep would be swamped), the Elta sensor has none of those issues.

 

Of the eight Sea Harriers involved in the LUSH programme, six have been upgraded and delivered back to the Navy, while two are currently being upgraded by HAL. The INS Viraat, currently undergoing a mini-refit in Kochi, will be back in service by September-October, and will have the LUSH Harriers on board.

[JediMaster 451]

I thought the Derby was the South African missile? Am I confusing that with something else?

 

I still can't believe the RN retired their Sea Harriers when they did. Those planes were still very capable for years to come.

[+ghostrider883 526]

I thought the Derby was the South African missile? Am I confusing that with something else?

 

Paris Air Show, June 2001 - A new beyond visual range (BVR) radar seeker, which was developed by Israel Aircraft Industries? MBT Division, has been incorporated into Rafael?s Derby air-to-air missile.

 

This seeker is the newest component in MBT?s line of advanced seekers for guided missiles.

 

The seeker for the Derby missile is a state of the art active radar seeker for all weather, all aspect air-to-air missiles. Advanced seeker performance enables engagement of several targets from short ranges to BVR with autonomous search, acquisition and tracking airborne targets, as well as look down capability.

 

Two seeker modes of operation are available and provide the Derby missile with excellent operational flexibility:

 

- Lock On After Launch (LOAL) optimized for medium range targets.

 

- Lock On Before Launch (LOBL) allowing superior performance at short range.

 

The seeker?s advanced Electronic Counter Counter Measure (ECCM) capability is programmable and can be modified to the customer?s requirements and new threats.

 

The seeker for the Derby missile employs advanced signal processing, is lightweight and has low power consumption. It is now operational following extensive testing and firings of the Derby missile.

http://www.iai.co.il/16724-22367-en/default.aspx?PageNum=3

[Viggen 644]

You're probably getting it confused with the South African Darter missile, Jedi.

 

Nice to see that the Indian Navy still has their Sea Harriers. The article mentions eight Sea Harriers, but does the Indian Navy have more?

[JediMaster 451]

I don't know if they have more now, but I'm pretty sure they had a few more in the past. Over a dozen I thought. However, some may have been retired for various reasons and at least some have suffered attrition over the years.

 

Yeah, I remember the Darter variants, I thought there was another there, too. Rafael is definitely an Israeli company, though.

[+ghostrider883 526]

Nice to see that the Indian Navy still has their Sea Harriers. The article mentions eight Sea Harriers, but does the Indian Navy have more?

 

The Indian Navy had acquired 23 Single seat FRS.51s(IN 601-623) & six twin seat T.Mk.60(IN 651-656) Sea Harriers. Known Indian Sea Harrier air accidents include twelve Mk.51 single-seaters and a pair of T Mk.60 trainers. That means only 10 single seat Harriers were left. May be only eight of them were in servicable/airworthy condition for upgradation.

[+ST0RM 145]

I still can't believe the RN retired their Sea Harriers when they did. Those planes were still very capable for years to come.

 

I echo those thoughts. Why the RN would give up it's only Fleet Defense platform was beyond me. And they replaced it with GR7 Harriers without a BVR capability. Granted, aerial fleet defense isn't as huge of a worry as it was during the Cold War, it still seemed very premature.

 

The Indian military was offered the former RN SHARs and they turned them down, which surprised me even more.

 

-S

[fallenphoenix1986 603]

If I remember corectly the RN SHAR's offered to the Indians were not to be of the standard operated by the RN, they were to have the radars and various other components removed and when the Indians became aware of this they lost interest.

 

Craig

[SayethWhaaaa 245]

If I remember corectly the RN SHAR's offered to the Indians were not to be of the standard operated by the RN, they were to have the radars and various other components removed and when the Indians became aware of this they lost interest.

 

Craig

 

Yeah, I heard that too. It was essentially the airframes sans avionics, fire control, blue vixen etc. It's a shame because it seemed like the UK MoD was trying to screw the Indians on the deal. But this was around the same time India was selling some aircraft (BN Islanders??) to Burma, to which the UK opposed considerably...