imported_Lusaka
13-04-2004, 21:12
It had been touted by President Igomo and his Social Progress Party as a step forward in the revitalisation of Lusakan industry and science, as well as a much needed security boost in troubled times. Igomo had on its unveiling declared that the United African Republic's erratic economy had steadied enough for him to announce that native Lusakan military technology and technical capacity was set to over-take that of almost all other native African states, perhaps the Commonwealth excepted. With the coup lead by General Theodore Tendyala now manifest in a reasonably stable government, the United African Republic again presents its proudest feat of military engineering.
AFRISAM is a mobile medium-range area defence surface-to-air missile system developed by Lusakan state arsenals during the first four years of the C21st.
Lusaka’s pursuit of new SAM technology was spurred by a period of relative economic good fortune in which the United African Republic maintained a per capita GDP at or above that enjoyed by the likes of the Russian Federation. With defence spending typically high for a nation on the troubled African continent, and surrounded by wealthier and imperialistic powers, it became evident that old Soviet systems provided insufficient performance.
The AFRISAM was meant to cover a number of gaps in the Republic’s air defence grid. The military contract called for a mobile system to display, “superior performance to the comparable Soviet-origin SAM systems currently in Lusakan service at lower cost than would result from importing modern systems from the developed world.”
AFRISAM is equipped with electronic counter-measure equipment to cut through jamming, and employs command and optional terminal guidance with a semi-active radar seeker in the terminal stages (around 3-5 seconds) of flight. The new Scavenger radar that accompanies LS-8 battalion is capable of detecting aircraft flying at tree top height, and the LS-8 missile of engaging the same. Scavenger can track forty-eight targets and attack four at a time, guiding up to eight missiles against them.
Integral ramjet rocket propulsion allows for a fairly small, lightweight missile with an impressive payload. A solid-propellant booster initiates the LS-8 missile’s flight, carrying it to above Mach 1 in a matter of seconds before being jettisoned as the ramjet motor takes over. Speed is then in excess of Mach 3.2. Launch weight is reported to be just over 600kg and warhead-weight generally around 50kg. Reaction speed is said to be quite good, with perhaps less than fifteen seconds between detection and firing. The LS-8 Surface-to-Air Missile’s range is up to roughly 28km, and ceiling 14,500m.
AFRISAM’s core component, the LS-8 missile launcher, is mounted upon a modified Luskan-built BMP-2 chassis and carries three launch-ready missiles. Scavenger radar and command unit is aboard a modified OT-62B APC. Zil-131 trucks are probably to be used as primary reload vehicles.
An AFRISAM battalion typically consists of one improved Long Track early warning radar (150km range, 30km altitude), one Scavenger fire-control radar (65km range, roughly 15km altitude) and command unit, two Zil-131 reload-vehicles, and four launch vehicles. Long Track(L) may serve more than one battalion operating in the same area.
AFRISAM launch vehicle (http://www.bharat-rakshak.com/MISSILES/Images/Akash2_small.jpg)
AFRISAM is a mobile medium-range area defence surface-to-air missile system developed by Lusakan state arsenals during the first four years of the C21st.
Lusaka’s pursuit of new SAM technology was spurred by a period of relative economic good fortune in which the United African Republic maintained a per capita GDP at or above that enjoyed by the likes of the Russian Federation. With defence spending typically high for a nation on the troubled African continent, and surrounded by wealthier and imperialistic powers, it became evident that old Soviet systems provided insufficient performance.
The AFRISAM was meant to cover a number of gaps in the Republic’s air defence grid. The military contract called for a mobile system to display, “superior performance to the comparable Soviet-origin SAM systems currently in Lusakan service at lower cost than would result from importing modern systems from the developed world.”
AFRISAM is equipped with electronic counter-measure equipment to cut through jamming, and employs command and optional terminal guidance with a semi-active radar seeker in the terminal stages (around 3-5 seconds) of flight. The new Scavenger radar that accompanies LS-8 battalion is capable of detecting aircraft flying at tree top height, and the LS-8 missile of engaging the same. Scavenger can track forty-eight targets and attack four at a time, guiding up to eight missiles against them.
Integral ramjet rocket propulsion allows for a fairly small, lightweight missile with an impressive payload. A solid-propellant booster initiates the LS-8 missile’s flight, carrying it to above Mach 1 in a matter of seconds before being jettisoned as the ramjet motor takes over. Speed is then in excess of Mach 3.2. Launch weight is reported to be just over 600kg and warhead-weight generally around 50kg. Reaction speed is said to be quite good, with perhaps less than fifteen seconds between detection and firing. The LS-8 Surface-to-Air Missile’s range is up to roughly 28km, and ceiling 14,500m.
AFRISAM’s core component, the LS-8 missile launcher, is mounted upon a modified Luskan-built BMP-2 chassis and carries three launch-ready missiles. Scavenger radar and command unit is aboard a modified OT-62B APC. Zil-131 trucks are probably to be used as primary reload vehicles.
An AFRISAM battalion typically consists of one improved Long Track early warning radar (150km range, 30km altitude), one Scavenger fire-control radar (65km range, roughly 15km altitude) and command unit, two Zil-131 reload-vehicles, and four launch vehicles. Long Track(L) may serve more than one battalion operating in the same area.
AFRISAM launch vehicle (http://www.bharat-rakshak.com/MISSILES/Images/Akash2_small.jpg)