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13-547: The AS-30 was an air-to-ground missile built by Nord Aviation . It was a precision attack weapon designed to be used against high-value targets such as bridges and bunkers. The AS-30 was essentially a larger version of the earlier AS-20 design, and initially used that weapon's guidance system, which required pilots to track the weapon visually and correct its path using a small joystick, while also flying their own aircraft. All such MCLOS systems proved very difficult to use in practice. The updated AS-30L replaced this system with

26-476: A semi-active laser homing system, which allows the missile to fly to the target without operator intervention. About 60 AS-30Ls were launched during Operation Desert Storm and Operation Deliberate Force with great success. The first AS-30 was a development of the 1960s Nord AS-20 , to allow both an increase in range and a much larger warhead, and is almost identical to the earlier AS-20 in design. The AS-30 has four large steeply swept back fins such as those on

39-513: A claimed hit rate of 97%. The AS-30L was deployed by French Super Étendard naval aircraft during Opération Harmattan in Libya. At that time it was no longer in service with the Armée de l'Air . Air-to-ground missile Guidance for air-to-surface missiles is typically via laser guidance , infrared guidance , optical guidance or via satellite guidance signals. The type of guidance depends on

52-442: A distance without coming within range of the target's air defences. Most air-to-surface missiles are fire-and-forget from a standoff distance, allowing the attacker to withdraw without approaching further after launch. Some missiles (typically cruise missiles or anti-ship missiles) have long enough range to be launched over the horizon, finding the target autonomously. Sub-categories of air-to-surface missiles include: Typically,

65-524: A longer-burn-time sustainer ignites, and exhausts through a nozzle located at the center of the back of the missile body. As with the AS-20, the AS-30 uses a simple MCLOS guidance with the pilot aligning the flares located near the missile's rear with the target and controlling the missile in flight after launch with a small joystick , sending steering commands to the missile via a radio link. The steering commands steer

78-533: A longer-distance "stand off" attack profile to reduce the danger to the aircraft and pilot to ground-based anti-aircraft defences. The missile has a range of 3 to 11 kilometers, carries a 240 kilogram warhead, and claims a 1-meter CEP with either airborne or ground-based laser designators. The South African Air Force used several Blackburn Buccaneers armed with AS-30 missiles to sink the SS Wafra on March 10, 1971 but without success. All Peruvian AS-30s were ceded by

91-616: The Penguin and AGM-84 Harpoon anti-ship missiles . Many air-to-surface missiles can be used against both ships and land targets, although some must be modified to perform a different role; for example, the AGM-84E Standoff Land Attack Missile is a land-attack version of the Harpoon. A major advantage of air-to-surface missiles for ground attack by aircraft is the standoff distance they provide: missiles can be launched from

104-644: The Peruvian Air Force to Argentina during the 1982 Falklands War , together with ten Mirage 5P fighters. The AS-30L was deployed by Iraqi Mirage F1 aircraft during the Iran–Iraq War . The AS-30L was deployed by French SEPECAT Jaguar aircraft during Operation Desert Storm in Iraq and Operation Deliberate Force in Bosnia , with roughly 60 missiles being launched. It was proven highly effective and accurate, with

117-423: The AS-20, cruciform in cross-section around the midsection of its body. However, because of its larger size, the AS-30 in addition has four smaller fins at the rear of the missile body to increase stability in flight. The AS-30 has a two- stage solid-fuel rocket motor. A short-burn-time booster section exhausts through two large nozzles located midway between the rear edges of the missile's large fins, after which

130-507: The higher and faster the launching aircraft is flying, the longer the reach of a particular missile is. For long-range missiles this difference can be relatively small, but short-range missiles (like the AGM-65 Maverick ) have a much longer range when launched at altitude. There have been examples of air-launched ballistic missiles ( Air Launched ICBM , GAM-87 Skybolt ), but they are rare. Sometimes air-to-surface missiles are divided into

143-478: The missile back to the line-of-sight by thrust vectoring , by the movement of one of four metal vanes around the sustainer nozzle. The missile's internal gyro gives the missile command unit the correct position of the missile in flight, so each of the four thrust vanes can actuate at the correct time to steer the missile back to the correct flight path. The AS-30L is a French short-to-medium range air-to-ground missile which employs laser homing guidance . The AS-30L

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156-522: The type of target. Ships, for example, may be detected via passive radar or active radar homing , which is less effective against multiple, small, fast-moving land targets. There is some cross-over between air-to-surface missiles and surface-to-surface missiles . For example, there was an air-launched version of the Tomahawk missile , superseded by the AGM-86 ALCM . Other missiles used in both roles include

169-529: Was a development of the earlier 1970s AS-30 missile, which uses MCLOS guidance via a radio command link between the aircraft and the missile. The only difference between the AS-30 and AS-30L is their guidance systems. In appearance, the earlier AS-30 has a sharp nose and the AS-30L has a slightly blunted nose. The AS-30L is employed for attacking targets which require a high degree of precision to engage effectively, but are also potentially dangerous enough to necessitate

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