A surface-to-air missile ( SAM ), also known as a ground-to-air missile ( GTAM ) or surface-to-air guided weapon ( SAGW ), is a missile designed to be launched from the ground or the sea to destroy aircraft or other missiles. It is one type of anti-aircraft system ; in modern armed forces, missiles have replaced most other forms of dedicated anti-aircraft weapons, with anti-aircraft guns pushed into specialized roles.
176-575: Rapier is a surface-to-air missile developed for the British Army to replace their towed Bofors 40/L70 anti-aircraft guns . The system is unusual as it uses a manual optical guidance system, sending guidance commands to the missile in flight over a radio link. This results in a high level of accuracy, therefore a large warhead is not required. Entering service in 1971, it eventually replaced all other anti-aircraft weapons in British Army service; both
352-411: A bus , and was exempt from Purchase Tax and Special Vehicle Tax. This made the twelve-seater not only cheaper to buy than the 10-seater version, but also cheaper than the seven-seater 88-inch (2.24 m) Station Wagon. The twelve-seater layout remained a highly popular body style for decades, being retained on the later Series and Defender variants until 2002, when it was dropped. The unusual status of
528-400: A freewheel unit (as used on several Rover cars of the time). This disengaged the front axle from the manual transmission on the overrun, allowing a form of non- permanent 4WD. A ring-pull mechanism in the driver's footwell allowed the freewheel to be locked to provide more traditional 4WD. This was a basic vehicle: tops for the doors and a roof (canvas or metal) were optional extras. In 1950,
704-587: A "flak rocket" concept, which led Walter Dornberger to ask Wernher von Braun to prepare a study on a guided missile able to reach between 15,000 and 18,000 m (49,000 and 59,000 ft) altitude. Von Braun became convinced a better solution was a manned rocket interceptor, and said as much to the director of the T-Amt , Roluf Lucht , in July. The directors of the Luftwaffe flak arm were not interested in manned aircraft, and
880-588: A "hit" is essentially a fixed percentage per round. In order to attack a target, guns fire continually while the aircraft are in range in order to launch as many shells as possible, increasing the chance that one of these will end up within the lethal range. Against the Boeing B-17 , which operated just within the range of the numerous German eighty-eights , an average of 2,805 rounds had to be fired per bomber destroyed. Bombers flying at higher altitudes require larger guns and shells to reach them. This greatly increases
1056-514: A 1-ton Missile Supply Trailer (MST) containing up to 10 further missiles. Blindfire radar (see below) was only provided for a third of fire units in British Army service, but for all fire units in the RAF Regiment. Although accurate and simple to use, the original Rapier system clearly suffered from a lack of all-weather capability. To address this need, BAC started work on a separate radar guidance unit, primarily to improve foreign sales. This led to
1232-456: A 1.4-kilogram (3.1 lb) warhead with a contact fuze and a single-stage solid-rocket motor that accelerates the missile to about 650 metres per second (2,100 ft/s), about Mach 2. Engagement time to the maximum effective range is about 13 seconds. Response time from initial target detection to missile launch is about six seconds, repeatedly confirmed in live firing. The whole system and its crew are delivered by two Land Rovers designated
1408-708: A 300 to 600 pounds (140 to 270 kg) warhead for a 30 to 60 percent kill probability. This weapon did not emerge for 16 years, when it entered operation as the RIM-8 Talos . Heavy shipping losses to kamikaze attacks during the Liberation of the Philippines and the Battle of Okinawa provided additional incentive for guided missile development. This led to the British Fairey Stooge and Brakemine efforts, and
1584-521: A SAM system in earnest with the opening of the Cold War . Joseph Stalin was worried that Moscow would be subjected to American and British air raids , like those against Berlin , and, in 1951, he demanded that a missile system to counter a 900 bomber raid be built as quickly as possible. This led to the S-25 Berkut system ( NATO reporting name : SA-1 "Guild"), which was designed, developed and deployed in
1760-427: A blueprint for the engine adapter plate (the same one the factory would go on to use for three other V8s they would build). In addition to the increased horsepower, Green would upgrade the 10" SLS drum brakes to 11"x3" DLS from the new NADA 109" they would soon be testing; increase fuel capacity; relocate and fit adjustable driver’s seat; and, with the help of Moeller Bros Body Shop, modify the rear bulkhead and then paint
1936-439: A brand new 2.0-litre diesel engine was introduced that, despite the similar capacity, was not related to the petrol engines used. The petrol engines of the time used the rather out-dated inlet-over-exhaust valve arrangement; the diesel used the more modern overhead valve layout. This diesel engine was one of the first high-speed diesels developed for road use, producing 52 hp (39 kW) at 4,000 rpm. The successor to
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#17330856272882112-407: A conventional war. Once a major group unto itself, medium-range designs have seen less development since the 1990s, as the focus has changed to unconventional warfare. Developments have also been made in onboard maneuverability. Israel's David's Sling Stunner missile is designed to intercept the newest generation of tactical ballistic missiles at low altitude. The multi-stage interceptor consists of
2288-666: A degree, leading to the introduction of the FIM-43 Redeye , SA-7 Grail and Blowpipe . Rapid improvement in the 1980s led to second generation designs, like the FIM-92 Stinger , 9K34 Strela-3 (SA-14), Igla-1 and Starstreak , with dramatically improved performance. By the 1990s to the 2010s, the Chinese had developed designs drawing influence from these, notably the FN-6 and the QW series . Through
2464-416: A drawing was presented, was by inventor Gustav Rasmus in 1931, who proposed a design that would home in on the sound of an aircraft's engines. During World War II , efforts were started to develop surface-to-air missiles as it was generally considered that flak was of little use against bombers of ever-increasing performance. The lethal radius of a flak shell is fairly small, and the chance of delivering
2640-461: A head-on approach at low speeds comparable to manned aircraft. These designs included the Feuerlilie, Schmetterling and Enzian. The second group were high-speed missiles, typically supersonic, that flew directly towards their targets from below. These included Wasserfall and Rheintochter. Both types used radio control for guidance, either by eye, or by comparing the returns of the missile and target on
2816-568: A light truck and a tractor) is similar to the Unimog , which was developed in Germany during this period. The first prototype had a distinctive feature — the steering wheel was mounted in the middle of the vehicle. It hence became known as the " centre steer ". It was built on a Jeep chassis and used the engine and gearbox out of a Rover P3 saloon car. The bodywork was handmade out of an aluminium/magnesium alloy called Birmabright , to save on steel, which
2992-494: A long wheelbase model in 1954, Land Rover also offered the world's first four / five door, 4WD off-road station wagon in 1956. Series Land Rovers and Defenders continually excelled in space utilization, offering (optional) three abreast seating in the seating rows with doors, and troop seating in the rear, resulting in up to seven seats in the SWB, and up to ten seats in the LWB models, exceeding
3168-559: A lower-cost system, BAC started development of the "Rapier Laserfire" in 1982. Laserfire replaced the original optical tracker unit with a new lidar (laser radar) illuminating system that is considerably smaller, allowing the entire system to be mounted on a single pallet that could itself be mounted on a truck or other flatbed vehicle. Laserfire used a millimetric Doppler radar . Due to its very high frequency of operation and ability to transform its beamshape from narrow azimuth and high elevation to wide azimuth and narrow elevation, Laserfire
3344-436: A matching front axle came later. Tyres were large 900×16 types on deep-dish wheel rims to spread the ground weight of this heavy vehicle. These vehicles were somewhat underpowered for the increased load capacity (1.5 long tons or 1,500 kg), and most had a hard working life. Less than 2,500 were made, and most had a utility body, but surviving examples often have custom bodywork. With an upgraded powertrain, they can be used as
3520-449: A much more extensive change. Greville Beale and Adrian Pollicutt led the development of a significantly different arrangement which was produced in a short period. This included significant changes to armour the M548 vehicle, now designated RCM 748, and to incorporate the diesel-powered Coventry Climax H 30 engine to run the new generator set, and also as the auxiliary power unit. The majority of
3696-516: A number of basic upgrades. Additionally, the search radar was upgraded to be easily shut down in case of an anti-radiation missile attack. FSB included lessons from the Falklands campaign, notable the 'pointing stick' that enabled the detachment commander of a fire unit to point the aiming unit at a target. With the range of upgrades and new components, the original low-cost Rapier system was gone. In order to address international market requirements for
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#17330856272883872-465: A pair of binoculars mounted on a gimbal system in the truck bed. A small antenna on the launcher trailer would communicate with the missile to bring it into alignment with the binoculars and then follow semi-active radar homing (SARH) from that point. When PT.428 ended in 1961, BAC began considering less-expensive options based on the same general concept. During this time, Colin Baron and John Twinn at
4048-439: A part of their multi-layered air defence. SAM systems generally fall into two broad groups based on their guidance systems, those using radar and those using some other means. Longer range missiles generally use radar for early detection and guidance. Early SAM systems generally used tracking radars and fed guidance information to the missile using radio control concepts, referred to in the field as command guidance . Through
4224-463: A radio cassette player, the GAME was available in a single colour scheme of 'Yellow Devil' body, white roof, black front panels and silver windscreen vent panel. Optional extras included a Fairey overdrive, safari roof, and free-wheeling hubs. Sales were limited and the model was discontinued in 1979. A problem specific to Australia was the always-limited supply of new Land Rovers. Leyland's factory never had
4400-488: A rush program. Early units entered operational service on 7 May 1955, and the entire system ringing Moscow was completely activated by June 1956. The system failed, however, to detect, track, and intercept the only overflight of the Soviet capital Moscow by a U-2 reconnaissance plane on July 5, 1956. The S-25 was a static system, but efforts were also put into a smaller design that would be much more mobile. This emerged in 1957 as
4576-487: A selection of films of various target attack sequences across the Woomera sky. The system was completed in 1968. In initial testing, tracking was seen to be a serious problem, and the British Army was concerned the system would be beyond the capabilities of the average gunner. Some problems were solved by adjusting the joystick's mechanical feedback to more closely match the missile's difficulty responding to various inputs. Many of
4752-458: A separate tracking radar for attack. Short range systems are more likely to be entirely visual for detection. Hybrid systems are also common. The MIM-72 Chaparral was fired optically, but normally operated with a short range early warning radar that displayed targets to the operator. This radar, the FAAR , was taken into the field with a Gama Goat and set up behind the lines. Information was passed to
4928-516: A simple dog clutch. Around this time the Land Rover's legal status was also clarified. As mentioned above, the Land Rover was originally classed as a commercial vehicle, meaning it was free from purchase tax. However, this also meant it was limited to a speed of 30 mph (48 km/h) on British roads. After an appeal to the Law Lords after an owner was charged with exceeding this limit, the Land Rover
5104-540: A single M113-derived vehicle. The concept was similar to PT.428, but larger and with fewer missiles. During the development of PT.428, BAC had also considered a lightweight version of the system which mounted six of the PT.428 missiles on a trailer that could be towed by a pickup version of the Land Rover . An early warning radar would be mounted on a framework above the roof of the truck, and initial tracking would be manual using
5280-518: A single radar screen. Development of all these systems was carried out at the same time, and the war ended before any of them was ready for combat use. The infighting between various groups in the military also delayed development. Some extreme fighter designs, like the Komet and Natter , also overlapped with SAMs in their intended uses. Albert Speer was especially supportive of missile development. In his opinion, had they been consistently developed from
5456-688: A small motorhome. The vehicle was not the first COE (cab over engine) vehicle produced by the plant, since they had also produced the Leyland 15/20 which was based on the Standard Atlas . The Series IIB FC produced from 1966 was similar to the Series IIA FC but added the 2.25-litre diesel engine as an option. The 2.25-litre engine was the standard engine for this model, the 2.6-litre engine being only available for export. Heavy duty wide-track axles (designed by ENV) were fitted to improve vehicle stability, as
Rapier (missile) - Misplaced Pages Continue
5632-584: A solid-fuel, rocket motor booster, followed by an asymmetrical kill vehicle with advanced steering for super-maneuverability during the kill-stage. A three-pulse motor provides additional acceleration and maneuverability during the terminal phase. MANPAD systems first developed in the 1960s and proved themselves in battle during the 1970s. MANPADS normally have ranges on the order of 3 km (1.9 mi) and are effective against attack helicopters and aircraft making ground attacks. Against fixed wing aircraft, they can be very effective, forcing them to fly outside
5808-462: A steel box-section chassis and an aluminium body. Originally the Land Rover was a single model offering, which from 1948 until 1951 used an 80-inch (2.03 m) wheelbase and a 1.6-litre petrol engine producing around 50 bhp (37 kW; 51 PS). The four-speed gearbox from the Rover P3 was used, with a new two-speed transfer box. This incorporated an unusual four-wheel-drive system, with
5984-582: A third Land Rover (a 12 V winch-equipped 101 FC) with the designation Tracking Radar Tractor (TRT). With sales to Iran came the additional requirement for a fully-mobile version of Rapier to protect the Chieftain tanks being supplied on a UK MOD contract. BAC responded by adapting the Rapier system to fit on the M548 , a cargo-carrier version of the ubiquitous M113. Development started in 1974 as "Tracked Rapier", with
6160-440: A two-stage shaped burn and laminated body solid rocket motor; ceramic substrate surface mount PCBs; completely new electronic systems and software; both analogue and digital proprietary ASICs; highly ECM resistant front end and command link with redundant encoding; fully Digital Autopilot incorporating Kalman state filtering; inertial navigation comprising ring-laser roll and rate gyroscope; Kapton ribbon cabling. The missile warhead
6336-508: A variation of the SARH technique, but based on laser illumination instead of radar. These have the advantage of being small and very fast acting, as well as highly accurate. A few older designs use purely optical tracking and command guidance, perhaps the best known example of this is the British Rapier system, which was initially an all-optical system with high accuracy. All SAM systems from
6512-457: A very narrow "pencil" beam and tracks both the target and missile. To allow the operator to monitor the Blindfire system when it tracks the target, the existing optical tracker follows the Blindfire radar, although it is possible for the optical tracker to be manually "laid on" a second target whilst the Blindfire engages the first. The Blindfire trailer carries its own generator unit, and is towed by
6688-554: A very short period of time in which the aircraft was close enough to fire on. To improve this, the Army began the development of a massively improved weapon known as " Red Queen ". This used a large 42 mm (1.7 in) round in a rotary cannon arrangement for high rates of fire. In spite of some progress, in 1959, the General Staff concluded that guns were no longer useful against modern aircraft. For their immediate needs they purchased
6864-508: Is available in two versions, the Mk. 2A for the normal anti-aircraft role, and the Mk. 2B, which includes a shaped charge warhead and dual fuzes, and which is useful against light armour as well. Surface-to-air missile The first attempt at SAM development took place during World War II , but no operational systems were introduced. Further development in the 1940s and 1950s led to operational systems being introduced by most major forces during
7040-556: Is due to improved rocket fuels and ever-smaller electronics in the guidance systems. Some very long-range systems remain, notably the Russian S-400 , which has a range of 400 km (250 mi). Medium-range designs, like the Rapier and 2K12 Kub , are specifically designed to be highly mobile with very fast, or zero, setup times. Many of these designs were mounted on armoured vehicles, allowing them to keep pace with mobile operations in
7216-609: Is expected that they would be more widely used against sea skimming missiles rather than aircraft . Virtually all surface warships can be armed with SAMs, and naval SAMs are a necessity for all front-line surface warships. Some warship types specialize in anti-air warfare e.g. Ticonderoga -class cruisers equipped with the Aegis combat system or Kirov -class cruisers with the S-300F Fort missile system. Modern Warships may carry all three types (from long-range to short-range) of SAMs as
Rapier (missile) - Misplaced Pages Continue
7392-682: The Chaparral via a data link . Likewise, the UK's Rapier system included a simple radar that displayed the rough direction of a target on a series of lamps arranged in a circle. The missile operator would point his telescope in that rough direction and then hunt for the target visually. Land Rover series The Land Rover Series I , II , and III , or simply the Land-Rover (commonly referred to as Series Land Rovers, to distinguish them from later models) are compact British off-road vehicles , produced by
7568-628: The Fire Unit Truck (FUT) and the Detachment Support Vehicle (DSV). Royal Artillery batteries comprised three troops each of four fire units, while RAF Regiment squadrons had eight fire units. By 1980, each Royal Artillery fire unit consisted of a 24-volt, 101 FC 1 tonne Land Rover towing the Rapier Launcher and carrying four missiles on board, a 2.8 m (109 in), 3/4 ton, 24 V FFR (Fitted For Radio) Land Rover towing
7744-622: The Gulf War , 12 and 16 Regiment Royal Artillery tracked batteries, quickly fitted with sat-nav for desert use, combined to provide Tracked Rapier support to deployed armoured regiments. Tracked Rapier was retired in the early 1990s, due to manning limitations when the Towed FSC version entered service. It has since been replaced by Starstreak missile launchers mounted on the Alvis Stormer . Shortly after introducing FSA, "Field Standard B" (FSB) added
7920-611: The Nike Hercules , the first nuclear-armed SAM. The U.S. Army Air Forces had also considered collision-course weapons (like the German radio-controlled concepts) and launched Project Thumper in 1946. This was merged with another project, Wizard, and emerged as the CIM-10 Bomarc in 1959. The Bomarc had a range of over 500 km, but it was quite expensive and somewhat unreliable. Development of Oerlikon 's RSD 58 started in 1947, and
8096-630: The RAF Regiment to replace their Bofors guns and Tigercat missiles. It also saw international sales. In October 2021, it was replaced as one of the UK's primary air-defence weapons by Sky Sabre . The introduction of medium-range surface-to-air missiles, or surface-to-air guided weapons (SAGW) as they are known in the UK, had made flying at medium or high altitudes anywhere near the front line near suicidal. In response, air forces began introducing aircraft and weapons meant to be used at low altitudes, in nap-of-the-earth flying that used landforms to block
8272-599: The Rover Company since 1948, and later by British Leyland . Inspired by the World War II jeep , it was the first mass-produced civilian four-wheel drive car with doors, and an available hard roof. Contrary to conventional car and truck chassis, it used a sturdier fully box-welded frame. Furthermore, due to post-war steel shortage, and aluminium surplus, Land Rovers received non-rusting aluminium alloy bodies, favouring their longevity. In 1992, Land Rover claimed that 70% of all
8448-639: The Royal Aircraft Establishment were developing an optical semi-automatic command to line of sight (SACLOS) system. Using this with the PT.428 missile produced the Sightline concept, which would be much less expensive than the original radar-guided version. The next year, Mauler was downgraded on its way to being cancelled, leaving both the US and British Army with no modern short-range anti-aircraft systems. The General Staff and Air Staff responded by issuing
8624-572: The Sea Slug . The Vietnam War was the first modern war in which guided antiaircraft missiles seriously challenged highly advanced supersonic jet aircraft. It would also be the first and only time that the latest and most modern air defense technologies of the Soviet Union and the most modern jet fighter planes and bombers of the United States confronted each other in combat (if one does not count
8800-452: The U.S. Navy 's SAM-N-2 Lark . The Lark ran into considerable difficulty and it never entered operational use. The end of the war led to the British efforts being used strictly for research and development throughout their lifetime. In the immediate post-war era, SAM developments were under way around the world, with several of these entering service in the early- and mid-1950s. Coming to
8976-527: The "County" spec. Station Wagon Land Rovers, available in both 88-inch (2,200 mm) and 109-inch (2,800 mm) types. These had all-new cloth seats from the Leyland T-45 Lorry, soundproofing kits, tinted glass and other "soft" options designed to appeal to the leisure owner/user. Of more interest was the introduction of the High Capacity Pick Up to the 109-inch (2,800 mm) chassis. This
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#17330856272889152-518: The "spread bore" petrol engine was introduced (from engines 5710xxxx), allowing better cooling between the cylinders. This had been introduced in the Rover car the year before. The engine was modified again in 1955 (from engine 1706xxxxx), sometimes known as the 'later' spread bore. September 1955 saw the introduction of the first five-door model, on the 107-inch chassis known as the " station wagon " with seating for up to ten people. The 86-inch station wagon
9328-512: The 'Pointing Stick', the Tracked Rapiers were upgraded, with the latest version included a thermal-imaging enhanced tracker which enabled single vehicle 24-hour operation without the need for the Blindfire unit. A modified M548 Missile Resupply Vehicle carried replacement missiles, a relief crew, and additional field kits, rations and water. A further M548 was configured as a REME Forward Area Support team with test facilities and spares. During
9504-425: The 1960s in series II guise, commanding some 90% of the off-road market, and with practically every farm having at least one Land Rover. The series III continued this success in the early 1970s, but from the middle of the decade sales declined. A large coal export deal to Japan relied on the subsequent import of Japanese cars and other goods, a combination of this increasing competition and increasingly poor quality of
9680-489: The 1960s, the semi-active radar homing (SARH) concept became much more common. In SARH, the reflections of the tracking radar's broadcasts are picked up by a receiver in the missile, which homes in on this signal. SARH has the advantage of leaving most of the equipment on the ground, while also eliminating the need for the ground station to communicate with the missile after launch. Smaller missiles, especially MANPADS, generally use infrared homing guidance systems. These have
9856-409: The 2.25-litre petrol and diesel engines received five main bearing crankshafts to increase rigidity and the transmission , and axles and wheel hubs were strengthened. This was the culmination of a series of updates to the transmission that had been made since the 1960s to combat the all-too-common problem of the rear axle half-shafts breaking in heavy usage. This problem was partly due to the design of
10032-408: The Army signed a contract to upgrade all Rapier systems to an enhanced version. A Mark 2 missile variant commenced development in 1986 culminating in a complete re-design which entered service in the mid-1990s. Along with a further upgrade of the proximity fuze, the new missile incorporated (then) state-of-art technologies including: Von Karman supersonic aerodynamic profile; composite propellant, with
10208-613: The Australian production. Top speed is 77 mph (124 km/h). This helped slow the sales decline, but the rest of the vehicle's shortcomings let it down. The One Ten was also available with this engine, and a turbocharged version producing in excess of 100 horsepower (75 kW) powered the military 6×6. South Africa's relationship with Land Rover started in 1949 when the first series-I 80-inch models were sold in South Africa . In August 1950, Car Distributors Assembly (Pty) Ltd assembled
10384-512: The Bofors guns used against low-altitude targets and the Thunderbird missile used against longer-range and higher-altitude targets. As the expected air threat moved from medium-altitude strategic missions to low-altitude strikes, the fast reaction time and high manoeuvrability of the Rapier made it more effective than either of these weapons, replacing most of them by 1977. Rapier was later selected by
10560-575: The British Government in the company to improve the Land Rover and Range Rover product offerings to counter the aforementioned market challenges, and were a transitional development on the way to the coil-sprung Land Rover 90 and 110. The use of the Range Rover engine and drive train made it the only Series III vehicle to have permanent four-wheel drive. Most of the V8 Stage 1 vehicles were exported, as
10736-619: The Japanese competition, the Land Rover was underpowered, unreliable and slow with a poor ride quality, despite their arguably superior off-road ability. Poor rust-proofing and low-quality steel used in comparison to the Japanese vehicles turned the buyers away in large numbers and by 1983, with the introduction of the One Ten, the Toyota Land Cruiser became the best-selling 4×4 in Australia. In
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#173308562728810912-465: The LT95 gearbox and 3.5-litre Rover V8 petrol engine. The engine was detuned to 91 hp (68 kW) from the 135BHP of the contemporary Range Rover. The vehicle came about because the competing Toyota Land Cruiser and Nissan Patrol vehicles, fitted with powerful and durable 6-cylinder engines, were making considerable inroads into the market, particularly in Australia and Africa. A V8-powered Land Rover with
11088-567: The Land Rover, from its many appearances in popular films and television documentaries set in Africa throughout the 1960s, such as Born Free . In February 1968, just a few months after the Rover Company had been subsumed, under government pressure, into the Leyland Motor Corporation , the Land Rover celebrated its twentieth birthday, with total production to date just short of 600,000, of which more than 70% had been exported. Certainly it
11264-653: The Land Rover. Early in 1966 the project was given to then Service Manager and newly appointed Product Development Engineer, Richard F Green of Rover Motor Company of North America, Ltd., based in South San Francisco. Green’s past included years in Grand Prix and sports-car racing with teams like Aston Martin and MG/BMC. Green came to America in February 1956 after the Monte Carlo Rally, sponsored by Ken Miles. The project
11440-527: The Laserfire tracking system was capable of being operated at night, target acquisition was optical, like the original Rapier. In 1985 development started on a new tracker that replaced the original optical system with a new IR thermal imager system to improve its abilities, especially at night. This version was known as "Rapier Darkfire" for this reason. Trials of the new system started in 1987, and were deployed operationally in 1990 as "Field Standard B2" (FSB2),
11616-530: The M Type were drawn up, and a few prototypes made, but would be too expensive to produce. Maurice Wilks , Rover's chief designer came up with a plan to produce a light agricultural and utility vehicle , of a similar concept to the Willys Jeep used in the war, but with an emphasis on agricultural use. He was possibly inspired by the Standard Motor Company , who faced similar problems and were producing
11792-446: The One-Ton versions. Little changed cosmetically from the IIA to the Series III . The Series III is the most common series vehicle, with 440,000 of the type built from 1971 to 1985. The headlights were moved to the wings on late production IIA models from 1968/9 onward (ostensibly to comply with Australian, American, and Dutch lighting regulations) and remained in this position for the Series III. The traditional metal grille, featured on
11968-577: The Pinzgauer replacement vehicle became available. The vehicles were sold off in a series of disposal auctions, and many are now cherished by private owners in New Zealand. The 1 Ton 109 inch was produced from late 1968 to 1977, covering late IIA and series III Models. It was basically a series-IIB forward control built with a standard 109 in body, featuring 2.6-litre petrol engine, lower ratio transfer gearbox, ENV front and rear axles, (Salisbury front and rear on later series IIIs) though some late IIAs were fitted with ENV axles in front and Salisbury on
12144-417: The Range Rover's constant 4WD system was a considerable technological advancement on the part-time 4WD and 4-cyl engines of previous variants, though the Stage 1 still used the Series III's leaf springs. The Stage 1 was normally available only in LWB 109-inch (2,800 mm) form but 24 examples were built with the SWB 88 in (2,235 mm) wheelbase. "Stage 1" refers to the first stage of investment by
12320-460: The Rapier Pilot Battery was formed jointly by No 63 Squadron RAF Regiment and 9 (Plassey) Light Air Defence Battery Royal Artillery. Comprehensive trials ended in 1973 and the first Rapier unit in British service, No. 63 Squadron, deployed to its operational station in Germany in mid-1974. In the 1980s, a new training simulator system was constructed in Stevenage . This consisted of a 10-metre (33 ft) radius hemispherical dome whose inside surface
12496-444: The Rover Company so it could restart up-market car production. Once car production restarted, however, it was greatly outsold by the off-road Land Rover, which developed into its own brand that remains successful today. Many of the defining and successful features of the Land Rover design were in fact the result of Rover's drive to simplify the tooling required for the vehicle and to use the minimum amount of rationed materials. As well as
12672-543: The Series I. The 107-inch (2.72 m) Station Wagon continued until late 1959 due to continued demand from export markets and to allow the production of Series II components to reach full level. The SII and the SIIA are very difficult to distinguish. There were some minor cosmetic changes. Body configurations available from the factory ranged from short-wheelbase soft-top to the top-of-the-line five-door station wagon. A 2.25-litre diesel
12848-450: The Tickford version, they came with basic interior trim and equipment such as roof vents and interior lights. The Station Wagons saw the first expansion of the Land Rover range. Station Wagons were fitted with a "Tropical Roof" which consisted of a second roof skin fitted on top of the vehicle. This kept the interior cool in hot weather and reduced condensation in cold weather. Vents fitted in
13024-533: The V8 vehicles were 109" configuration and were supplied with a plastic-coated canvas canopy with bodywork in Deep Bronze Green. All had 24v electrics with Fitted For Radio (FFR) vehicles having a larger 100 amp generator supplied by Milspec Manufacturing Pty Ltd of Australia. Variants included a hard-top fitted vehicle used for specialist signals tasks (some of which had dual rear wheels for lateral stability to counteract
13200-663: The Yom Kippur War wherein IAF was challenged by Syrian SA-3s). The USAF responded to this threat with increasingly effective means. Early efforts to directly attack the missiles sites as part of Operation Spring High and Operation Iron Hand were generally unsuccessful, but the introduction of Wild Weasel aircraft carrying Shrike missiles and the Standard ARM missile changed the situation dramatically. Feint and counterfeint followed as each side introduced new tactics to try to gain
13376-525: The advantage of being "fire-and-forget", once launched they will home on the target on their own with no external signals needed. In comparison, SARH systems require the tracking radar to illuminate the target, which may require them to be exposed through the attack. Systems combining an infrared seeker as a terminal guidance system on a missile using SARH are also known, like the MIM-46 Mauler , but these are generally rare. Some newer short-range systems use
13552-412: The aluminium alloy bodywork (which has been retained throughout production despite it now being more expensive than a conventional steel body due to its ideal properties of light weight and corrosion resistance) other examples include the distinctive flat body panels with only simple, constant-radius curves (originally used because they could be cut and formed by hand from aluminium sheet on a basic jig) and
13728-573: The bodywork was simplified to reduce production time and costs and a larger engine was fitted, together with a specially designed transfer gearbox to replace the Jeep unit. The result was a vehicle that didn't use a single Jeep component and was slightly shorter than its American inspiration, but wider, heavier, faster and still retained the PTO drives. The Land Rover was designed to only be in production for two or three years to gain some cash flow and export orders for
13904-461: The bomber remaining outside the range of the ship's antiaircraft guns , and the missiles themselves were too small and fast to be attacked effectively. To combat this threat, the U.S. Navy launched Operation Bumblebee to develop a ramjet-powered missile to destroy the launching aircraft at long range. The initial performance goal was to target an intercept at a horizontal range of 10 miles (16 km) and 30,000 feet (9,100 m) altitude, with
14080-470: The capacity of most minivans , when comparing vehicles of the same length. The Land Rover was conceived by the Rover Company in 1947 during the aftermath of World War II . Before the war Rover had produced luxury cars which were not in demand in the immediate post-war period and raw materials were strictly rationed to those companies building construction or industrial equipment, or products that could be widely exported to earn crucial foreign exchange for
14256-470: The capacity to meet possible demand and the need to import almost the entire vehicle in kit form from Britain restricted the supply and manufacturing process further. This led to a long waiting list developing for the Leyland product whilst commercial operators could receive large fleets of Japanese vehicles very quickly. The other problems faced by Land Rover were the same throughout its export markets- compared to
14432-502: The car Golden Rod Yellow, which would then become the new project name: "Golden Rod". They drove the completed the Golden Rod to New York City for McWilliams to see, from where it was shipped to Southampton, where Green would later collect it and drive it to Solihull. From 1979 until 1985, the Stage 1 was built using some of the same components as the Range Rover and 101 Forward Control, such as
14608-408: The combined GASR.3132 requirement for a clear-weather daytime SAM for both the Army and the RAF Regiment . Whether GASR.3132 was designed for Sightline, or Sightline for GASR.3132, is not clear in existing references. The new concept was given the name "Defoe". An even smaller and cheaper system lacking an early warning radar was also considered under GASR.3134. In 1963, Defoe was made official, given
14784-555: The components being shipped from Britain meant that Land Rover's dominance slipped. In an attempt to address declining sales in the rural and civil engineering markets in the mid 1970s, Leyland Australia developed the Land Rover GAME, an up-market, short-wheelbase Series III aimed at the emerging recreational 4WD market. Fitted with fifteen inch white spoke wheels and wide tyres, wheel arch extensions, deluxe bonnet, rear bumperettes, rear swing away spare wheel carrier, interior trim, and
14960-762: The control system in the firing unit again required setup time to connect the two pieces of equipment. The system had not yet been fully developed when the Iranian Shah fell from power in 1978. The vehicles were later purchased by the British Army as part of a Fixed-price Develop and Supply contract. The first production Tracked Rapier was accepted on time and to cost at Wellington Barracks in early 1981, and entered service with 11 (Sphinx) Air Defence Battery , of 22 Air Defence Regiment, Royal Artillery in 1983 in Napier Barracks near Dortmund . After initially entering service at Towed FSB1 standard, with planar array radar and
15136-751: The cost of the system, and (generally) slows the rate of fire. Faster aircraft fly out of range more quickly, reducing the number of rounds fired against them. Against late-war designs like the Boeing B-29 Superfortress or jet-powered designs like the Arado Ar 234 , flak would be essentially useless. This potential was already obvious by 1942, when Walther von Axthelm outlined the growing problems with flak defences that he predicted would soon be dealing with "aircraft speeds and flight altitudes [that] will gradually reach 1,000 km/h (620 mph) and between 10,000–15,000 m (33,000–49,000 ft)." This
15312-523: The country. Also, Rover's original factory in Coventry had been bombed during the war, forcing the company to move into a huge " shadow factory " built just before the war in Solihull near Birmingham , previously used to construct Bristol Hercules aircraft engines. This factory was now empty but starting car production there from scratch would not be financially viable. Plans for a small, economical car known as
15488-415: The development target ET.316. BAC management initially gave it the name "Mongoose", but during a board meeting the issue arose that no one knew what more than one mongoose was called; mongooses? mongeese? The name "Rapier" was suggested and made official. As development continued, it became increasingly clear that the Rapier was far more a formidable weapon than initially expected. The optical tracking system
15664-560: The earlier upgrades retroactively becoming FSB1. This system was also known as "Rapier 90". Cooling for the imager was provided by bottles of compressed gas. FSB2 also introduced a number of improvements that greatly improved Rapier capabilities. First and foremost was the Tactical Control Console that allowed four Rapier launchers to be controlled from a central location. The launchers themselves were upgraded to carry six missiles instead of four, improving battery capacity. Finally,
15840-462: The early 1960s, the Army was given the choice of picking either PT.428 or their Blue Water nuclear missile. They chose the latter, a decision Solly Zuckerman found rather questionable. The Army officially replaced PT.428 with the similar but slightly less advanced MIM-46 Mauler from the United States . Mauler combined a search radar and nine missiles using either radar or infrared guidance on
16016-438: The early 1980s, Land Rover Australia had made some changes to the vehicle to try to combat this sales decline. As well as the fitting of the V8 petrol engine in the 1979 "Stage One", as in the rest of the world, Australia also received the same vehicle with the option of a 3.9-litre 97 hp (72 kW) four-cylinder Isuzu diesel engine ( 4BD1 ). This was introduced in 1982, and was meant to be equipped in about ten per cent of
16192-520: The effectiveness of North Vietnamese anti-aircraft artillery, which used data from S-75 radar stations However, the U.S states only 205 of those aircraft were lost to North Vietnamese surface-to-air missiles. All of these early systems were "heavyweight" designs with limited mobility and requiring considerable set-up time. However, they were also increasingly effective. By the early 1960s, the deployment of SAMs had rendered high-speed high-altitude flight in combat practically suicidal. The way to avoid this
16368-414: The electronic equipment in the launcher was not changed significantly from the towed version. However, a completely redesigned armoured launcher with the capability of loading eight missiles was produced, mounted via anti-vibration mounts to the flatbed of the vehicle. The armoured cab was provided with pan-climatic heating/cooling and NBC protection. The optical tracker was placed inside the armoured cab of
16544-412: The engine and from the gearbox to the centre and rear of the vehicle allowed it to drive farm machinery, exactly as a tractor would. It was also tested ploughing and performing other agricultural tasks. However, as the vehicle was readied for production, this emphasis on tractor-like usage decreased and the centre steering proved impractical in use. The steering wheel was mounted off to the side as normal,
16720-451: The engine was too heavy and slow-revving, which stunted performance and produced torque that the Rover gearbox could only just cope with. Rover convinced the MOD that, considering the quantities of Land Rovers they were considering ordering, that the standard 1.6-litre engine would suffice. The MOD started ordering Land Rovers in batches from late 1949. The initial batches were for 50 vehicles, but by
16896-847: The evolution of SAMs, improvements were also being made to anti-aircraft artillery , but the missiles pushed them into ever shorter-range roles. By the 1980s, the only remaining widespread use was point-defense of airfields and ships, especially against cruise missiles . By the 1990s, even these roles were being encroached on by new MANPADS and similar short-range weapons, like the RIM-116 Rolling Airframe Missile . Surface-to-air missiles are classified by their guidance , mobility, altitude and range . Missiles able to fly longer distances are generally heavier, and therefore less mobile. This leads to three "natural" classes of SAM systems; heavy long-range systems that are fixed or semi-mobile, medium-range vehicle-mounted systems that can fire on
17072-424: The famous S-75 Dvina (SA-2 "Guideline"), a portable system, with very high performance, that remained in operation into the 2000s. The Soviet Union remained at the forefront of SAM development throughout its history; and Russia has followed suit. The early British developments with Stooge and Brakemine were successful, but further development was curtailed in the post-war era. These efforts picked up again with
17248-678: The first Land Rover CKD in Port Elizabeth , South Africa. The first local production of fuel tanks and chassis at the Port Elizabeth plant was announced in August 1963 and from then on the local content in the production of Land Rovers increased steadily to 44% of vehicle weight by 1972. Local content included: chassis, road springs, entire body, tyres, seat frames and upholstery, battery, fibreglass roof and all glass. In 1974 Leyland SA had three assembly plants. Local content increased further in 1980 with
17424-495: The first example was a Royal Navy system known as the Holman Projector , used as a last-ditch weapon on smaller ships. The Germans also produced a similar short-range weapon known as Fliegerfaust , but it entered operation only on a very limited scale. The performance gap between this weapon and jet fighters of the post-war era was so great that such designs would not be effective. By the 1960s, technology had closed this gap to
17600-458: The first large-scale raids by the Allied air forces started. As the urgency of the problem grew, new designs were added, including Enzian and Rheintochter , as well as the unguided Taifun which was designed to be launched in waves. In general, these designs could be split into two groups. One set of designs would be boosted to altitude in front of the bombers and then flown towards them on
17776-467: The first public showing at the 1977 Paris Air Show as a static display unit. The initial proposal for the system was to simply mount the towed launcher, including its petrol generator set but minus its running gear, on the flatbed of the M548 carrier. When this was shown to Mr. G.R. Jefferson, the GW Managing Director, he was not very impressed. Aware of the amount of money available, he required
17952-447: The form of a two-wheeled launcher carrying four missiles, an optical tracker unit, a generator, and a trailer of reserve missiles. The launcher consists of a vertical cylindrical unit carrying two missiles on each side, the surveillance radar dish and " Identification Friend or Foe " (IFF) system under a radome on top, the guidance computer and radar electronics at the bottom, and a prominent parabolic antenna for sending guidance commands to
18128-403: The front chassis cross-member was moved an inch forward, to accommodate the new diesel engine, to be an option the following year. This change was made to all models with the exception of the 107 Station Wagon, which would never be fitted with a diesel engine, and would eventually be the last Series I in production. These dimensions were to be used on all Land Rovers for the next 25 years. In 1957
18304-522: The highly successful Ferguson TE20 tractor in their shadow factory in Coventry. More likely, he used his own experience of using an army-surplus Jeep on his farm in Anglesey , North Wales. His design added a power take-off (PTO) feature since there was a gap in the market between jeeps and tractors (which offered the feature but were less flexible as transport). The original Land Rover concept (a cross between
18480-474: The home market. Export markets had even fewer examples, making this one of the rarest types of Land-Rover ever built. 22 IIA 1-tons were built with 2.25 litre petrol engine for the ministry of defence as fire tenders, known as the TACR1. The series III version was an uprated version of the standard military Land Rover. Australia has always been an important export market for Land Rovers of various models, but especially
18656-705: The introduction of the Marconi DN 181 "Blindfire" radar in 1970, the first examples being sold to the Iranian Army in 1973. The British Army did not purchase the Blindfire system until 1979, entering service with Rapier "Field Standard A" (FSA). The RAF Regiment had 27 Squadron operational with Blindfire at RAF Leuchars by 1979, and was in the process of bringing all the RAF Regiment GBAD (Ground Based Air Defence) Squadrons into line. By 1997 more than 350 Blindfire radars had been produced. To ensure accuracy, Blindfire uses
18832-529: The larger engine was not really sought-after by UK owners, for whom the 4-cyl 2286cc engine seemed to be sufficient and somewhat more economical. A small number may have been used by the British armed forces. However, the New Zealand Army bought 566 Stage 1 V8 Land Rovers which entered service over the period 1982 - 1986. The New Zealand Army standardised on the type, retiring the previous mixture of British- and Australian-built 88" and 109" Series 2 variants. All
19008-434: The later part of its life as Land Rover updated the design to meet increased competition. This was the first model to feature synchromesh on all four gears, although some late H-suffix SIIA models (mainly the more expensive Station Wagons) had used the all-synchro box. In keeping with early 1970s trends in automotive interior design, both in safety and use of more advanced materials, the simple metal dashboard of earlier models
19184-411: The lights moved from a position behind the grille to protruding through the grille. From the beginning, it was realised that some buyers would want a Land Rover's abilities without the spartan interiors. In 1949, Land Rover launched a second body option called the " Station Wagon ", fitted with a body built by Tickford , a coachbuilder known for their work with Rolls-Royce and Lagonda . The bodywork
19360-592: The loss of three B-52s and several others damaged in a single mission. Dramatic changes followed, and by the end of the series, missions were carried out with additional chaff, ECM, Iron Hand, and other changes that dramatically changed the score. By the conclusion of the Linebacker II campaign, the shootdown rate of the S-75 against the B-52s was 7.52% (15 B-52s were shot down, 5 B-52s were heavily damaged for 266 missiles) During
19536-443: The mid-1960s, almost all modern armed forces had short-range missiles mounted on trucks or light armour that could move with the armed forces they protected. Examples include the 2K12 Kub (SA-6) and 9K33 Osa (SA-8), MIM-23 Hawk , Rapier , Roland and Crotale . The introduction of sea-skimming missiles in the late 1960s and 1970s led to additional mid- and short-range designs for defence against these targets. The UK's Sea Cat
19712-450: The missile's envelope and thereby greatly reducing their effectiveness in ground-attack roles. MANPAD systems are sometimes used with vehicle mounts to improve maneuverability, like the Avenger system. These systems have encroached on the performance niche formerly filled by dedicated mid-range systems. Ship-based anti-aircraft missiles are also considered to be SAMs, although in practice it
19888-466: The missile's tail. Like the operator's telescope, the TV system has two views: about 11 degrees wide for the initial "capture", and 0.55 degrees for mid-course tracking. The location of the missile relative to the line of sight is measured using a system identical to the "chopper" system used in early infrared homing missiles. The chopper is inside the launcher, rather than on the missile, and feeds an image from
20064-466: The missiles on the front. The search radar, of the pulsed Doppler type, has a range of about 15 kilometres (9 mi). The aerial, located at the top of the launcher, rotates about once a second, looking for moving targets through their Doppler shift . Upon detecting a target, a lamp lights up on the Selector Engagement Zone (SEZ) — a box containing 32 orange lamps arranged in a circle about
20240-595: The move, and short-range man-portable air-defense systems (MANPADS). Modern long-range weapons include the MIM-104 Patriot and S-300 systems, which have effective ranges on the order of 150 km (93 mi) and offer relatively good mobility and short unlimbering times. These compare with older systems with similar or less range, like the MIM-14 Nike Hercules or S-75 Dvina , which required fixed sites of considerable size. Much of this performance increase
20416-513: The new Bofors 40/L70, and for the longer term began a new missile development for a short-range, rapid-reaction weapon, known as the Light Anti-Aircraft (LAA) system. The initial design contest for the LAA was won by British Aircraft Corporation (BAC) in 1960, and given the development name PT.428. This called for a system that could be carried on a single 4-ton Bedford TK truck. The firing unit
20592-611: The opening of the Cold War, following the "Stage Plan" of improving UK air defences with new radars, fighters and missiles. Two competing designs were proposed for "Stage 1", based on common radar and control units, and these emerged as the RAF's Bristol Bloodhound in 1958, and the Army's English Electric Thunderbird in 1959. A third design followed the American Bumblebee efforts in terms of role and timeline, and entered service in 1961 as
20768-429: The operator then searches for the target in elevation. The operator's field of view is selected based on the target's range: "wide" at about 20 degrees or "track" at about 4.8 degrees. When the target is found, the operator switches to "track" and uses a joystick to keep the target centred in the telescope. Once a steady track is established, the missile is fired. The TV camera on the tracker is tuned to track four flares on
20944-498: The optics rotate in azimuth. Using this system means that, unlike a periscope , the operator does not have to move to track the target. The upper section also contains a separate missile tracking system that follows the operator's optics, based on a television camera optimized for the IR band. Upon detection of a target, the optical tracking system is slewed to target the azimuth supplied by the SEZ;
21120-420: The original Land Rover. As a result, fewer than 700 Tickfords were sold, and all but 50 were exported. In 1952 and 1953, a larger 2.0-litre petrol engine was fitted. This engine has Siamese bores, meaning that there are no water passages for cooling between the cylinders. During 1950, the unusual semi-permanent 4WD system was replaced with a more conventional setup, with drive to the front axle being taken through
21296-457: The position of the missile. The projected laser imagery was bright enough that it could be tracked by IR imagers and seekers, allowing it to be used with the updated Darkfire versions of the Rapier with their IR cameras, or other IR seeking missiles like the Stinger . This system was sold separately for use with other missile systems under the name British Aerospace Microdome. The original Rapier took
21472-456: The present day. This is despite the 1982 re-design (mainly the increase of driving- splines from 10 to 24 to reduce stress) that all but solved the problem. Also, new trim options were introduced to make the interior more comfortable if the buyer so wished (many farmers and commercial users preferred the original, non-trimmed interior). These changes culminated in April 1982 with the introduction of
21648-434: The rear. Later series IIIs had a Rover type front axle with a supposedly strengthened differential. The chassis frame was unique to the model and featured drop-shackle suspension similar to the military series Land Rovers. 900x16 tyres on deep dish steel wheelrims were a standard feature and these machines were commonly used by utility companies and breakdown/recovery firms. Only 170 IIA and 238 series IIIs (1 Ton) were built for
21824-552: The remaining issues were subsequently solved via a massive simulation run and data processing using an IBM 7090 . Complete systems were tested in 1968, with a subsequent production contract in 1969. On a parallel track, the RAF Regiment had been looking for a short-range weapon for airfield defense. Eventually, this led to the development of the Tigercat system in 1967, an adaptation of the Seacat naval surface-to-air missile system. Tigercat
22000-730: The resulting disagreements between the teams delayed serious consideration of a SAM for two years. Von Axthelm published his concerns in 1942, and the subject saw serious consideration for the first time; initial development programs for liquid- and solid-fuel rockets became part of the Flak Development Program of 1942. By this point serious studies by the Peenemünde team had been prepared, and several rocket designs had been proposed, including 1940's Feuerlilie , and 1941's Wasserfall and Henschel Hs 117 Schmetterling . None of these projects saw any real development until 1943, when
22176-458: The roof allowed added ventilation to the interior. While they were based on the same chassis and drivetrains as the standard vehicles, Station Wagons carried different chassis numbers, special badging, and were advertised in separate brochures. Unlike the original Station Wagon, the new in-house versions were highly popular. In mid-1956 the wheelbases were extended by 2 inches (51 mm) to 88 inches (2.24 m) and 109 inches (2.77 m), and
22352-570: The same conclusions as the Germans regarding flak, the U.S. Army started its Project Nike developments in 1944. Led by Bell Labs , the Nike Ajax was tested in production form in 1952, becoming the first operational SAM system when it was activated in March 1954. Concerns about Ajax's ability to deal with formations of aircraft led to greatly updated version of the same basic design entering service in 1958 as
22528-411: The search radar was updated to use a new planar array radar , although its capabilities remained generally the same as the earlier model. In 1988 tests started on an improved warhead using a proximity fuze, in order to give Rapier capability against smaller targets that would be difficult to hit directly, notably high-speed remotely piloted vehicles . Serial production of Mk. 1E began in 1989. In 1992
22704-446: The second half of the 1950s. Smaller systems, suitable for close-range work, evolved through the 1960s and 1970s, to modern systems that are man-portable. Shipborne systems followed the evolution of land-based models, starting with long-range weapons and steadily evolving toward smaller designs to provide a layered defence. This evolution of design increasingly pushed gun-based systems into the shortest-range roles. The American Nike Ajax
22880-533: The series I, II and IIA, was replaced with a plastic one for the Series-III model. The 2.25-litre engine had its compression raised from 7:1 to 8:1, increasing the power slightly (the high compression engine had been an optional fit on the IIa model for several years). During the series-III production run from 1971 until 1985, the 1,000,000th Land Rover rolled off the production line in 1976. The series III saw many changes in
23056-602: The series-IIIS models fitted with locally produced petrol(R6) and diesel(ADE 236) engines. In 1992, the Blackheath factory in the Cape Province was identified as the largest Land Rover CKD assembly outside the United Kingdom . The British Army used series Land Rovers in large numbers (and continues to use the modern Defender versions). The British Army tested the 80-inch (2.03 m) series-I Land Rover almost as soon as it
23232-460: The shafts themselves. Due to the fully floating design of the rear wheel hubs, the half shafts can be removed very quickly without even having to jack the vehicle off the ground. The tendency for commercial operators to overload their vehicles exacerbated this flaw which blighted the Series Land Rovers in many of their export markets and established a reputation that continues in many markets to
23408-407: The sill panels were redesigned to be shallower a few months afterward. Later still, the rear wheelarch profile was changed, possibly to accommodate 900x16 tyres fitted with snow chains on 1-Ton 109" models. The Series IIA is considered by many the most hardy Series model constructed. It is quite possibly also the type of classic Land Rover that features strongly in the general public's perception of
23584-421: The size of an automobile steering wheel. The radar operator can use switches to blank out returns from other directions, providing jamming resistance. The optical tracker unit comprises a stationary lower section housing the operator controls and a rotating upper section containing the tracking optics. The operator's optical system is a modified telescope containing a Dove prism to prevent the image 'toppling' as
23760-420: The small receiver antennas on the rear of the mid-body fins. The operator simply keeps the telescope's crosshairs on the target using the joystick, and the missile automatically flies into the line of sight. The basic concept is similar to that used by most anti-tank missiles , except that those normally use small wires — rather than a radio link — to send guidance information to the missile. The missile contains
23936-418: The smallest to the largest generally include identified as friend or foe (IFF) systems to help identify the target before being engaged. While IFF is not as important with MANPADs, as the target is almost always visually identified prior to launch, most modern MANPADs do include it. Long-range systems generally use radar systems for target detection, and depending on the generation of system, may "hand off" to
24112-550: The start, the large scale bomber raids of 1944 would have been impossible. The British developed unguided antiaircraft rockets (operated under the name Z Battery ) close to the start of World War II , but the air superiority usually held by the Allies meant that the demand for similar weapons was not as acute. When several Allied ships were sunk in 1943 by Henschel Hs 293 and Fritz X glide bombs , Allied interest changed. These weapons were released from stand-off distances, with
24288-551: The sturdy box-section ladder chassis , which on series vehicles was made up from four strips of steel welded at each side to form a box, thus cutting down on the complex operations required when making a more conventional U- or I-section frame. Land Rover entered production in 1948 with what has later been termed the Series I . This was launched at the Amsterdam Motor Show. It was designed for farm and light industrial use, with
24464-481: The successful Series I was the Series II , which saw a production run from 1958 to 1961. It came in 88 in (2.24 m) and 109 in (2.77 m) wheelbases (normally referred to as the 'SWB' and 'LWB'). This was the first Land Rover to receive the attention of Rover's styling department. Chief Stylist David Bache produced the familiar 'barrel side' waistline, with a 5 in (12.7 cm) greater width to cover
24640-399: The tracking camera which passes through the light from the flares. The chopper generates signals that encode the angle of the missile relative to "up" and the angle out from the centre, or "error off". The simple computer in the base then calculates the control inputs needed to bring the missile into the line of sight and sends them to the missile via the transmitter on the launcher platform, to
24816-477: The twelve-seater remained until the end—such vehicles were classed as minibuses and thus could use bus lanes and (if registered correctly) could be exempt from the London Congestion Charge . There was some degree of overlap between Series I and II production. Early Series II 88-inch (2.24 m) vehicles were fitted with the old 2-litre petrol engine to use up existing stock from production of
24992-455: The upper hand. By the time of Operation Linebacker II in 1972, the Americans had gained critical information about the performance and operations of the S-75 (via Arab S-75 systems captured by Israel), and used these missions as a way to demonstrate the capability of strategic bombers to operate in a SAM saturated environment. Their first missions appeared to demonstrate the exact opposite, with
25168-474: The utility models. 80-inch series-I models were sold to the Australian government in the late 1940s for work on civil engineering projects such as dams and road construction, which brought the vehicle to the buying public's attention. Large sales followed and in the 1950s Land Rover established factories in Australia to build CKD kits shipped from the Solihull factory. The Land Rover continued to sell well throughout
25344-461: The vehicle's wider tracks, as well as the improved design of the truck cab variant, introducing the curved side windows and rounded roof still used on current Land Rovers. The Series II was the first vehicle to use the well-known 2.25-litre petrol engine , although the first 1,500 or so short wheelbase (SWB) models retained the 52 hp (39 kW) 2.0-litre petrol engine from the Series I. This larger petrol engine produced 72 hp (54 kW) and
25520-479: The vehicle, elevating through the roof for operation. The tracker was operated from the right side of the crew cabin, while on the left were the driver and tactical controller who also had a helmet-mounted sight, allowing him to lay the tracker onto a visual target. From moving to firing took only 30 seconds, a tremendous improvement over Towed Rapier, which required at least 15 minutes to unlimber, cable-up and align. A further difference between Towed and Tracked Rapier
25696-515: The vehicles they had built were still in use. Most Series models feature leaf-spring suspension with selectable two or four-wheel drive (4WD), however Series I's produced between 1948 and mid-1951 had constant 4WD via a freewheel mechanism, and the Stage 1 V8 version of the Series III featured permanent 4WD. All three models could be started with a front hand crank and had the option of front & rear power takeoffs for accessories. After adding
25872-510: The view of the aircraft from the radar systems on the missiles. By the late 1950s, the British Army considered this threat considerable as new aircraft like the Sukhoi Su-7 became common and higher performance designs were in the pipeline. Against low-flying aircraft, only anti-aircraft guns were suitable, as they could be quickly swung and fired in seconds. However, the relatively short range of their Bofors 40/L56 guns meant they had only
26048-536: The war, The Soviet Union supplied 7,658 SAMs to North Vietnam, and their defense forces conducted about 5,800 launches, usually in multiples of three. By the war's end, the U.S lost a total of 3,374 aircraft in combat operations. According to the North Vietnamese, 31% were shot down by S-75 missiles (1,046 aircraft, or 5.6 missiles per one kill); 60% were shot down by anti-aircraft guns; and 9% were shot down by MiG fighters. The S-75 missile system significantly improved
26224-502: The weight of additional equipment carried). There was also a white-painted 300 TDI conversion of approximately 20 vehicles, including a hard top and locally-devised disc brake conversion, for peacekeeping service with New Zealand's UNPROFOR contingent in Bosnia-Herzegovina from 1994 to 1996. The retirement of New Zealand V8 Stage 1 vehicles started from 2000, with the last examples taken out of service in 2006 once sufficient numbers of
26400-477: Was a closely held secret until 1955. Early versions of the missile were available for purchase as early as 1952, but never entered operational service. The RSD 58 used beam riding guidance, which has limited performance against high-speed aircraft, as the missile is unable to "lead" the target to a collision point. Examples were purchased by several nations for testing and training purposes, but no operational sales were made. The Soviet Union began development of
26576-430: Was a front anti-roll bar and revised rear springs which were mounted above the axle rather than below it. In the process the wheelbase was increased to 110 in (2,794 mm). Production ended in 1974 when Land-Rover rationalised its vehicle range. Many IIB components were also used on the "1 Ton" 109 in vehicle. The Series III had the same body and engine options as the preceding IIA, including station wagons and
26752-500: Was a pick-up truck load bay that offered 25% more cubic capacity than the standard pick-up style. The HCPU came with heavy-duty suspension and was popular with public utility companies and building contractors. The first Prototype V8 Land Rover was the creation of Bruce McWilliams, then president of the Rover Motor Company of North America Limited. McWilliams thought that the newly acquired all alloy V8 from GM would be perfect for
26928-510: Was a single piece that would normally be placed on the ground during operation, but could be fired from the truck in an emergency. The system was deliberately designed to fit, when taken apart, as a single load in the Fairey Rotodyne . The system was quite advanced, including automated search and track radars, a separate television camera for target identification, and eighteen missiles in two nine-round boxes. As budget pressures escalated in
27104-401: Was a three-door, seven-seater. The new station wagons were very different from the previous Tickford model, being built with simple metal panels and bolt-together construction instead of the complex wooden structure of the older Station Wagon. They were intended to be used both as commercial vehicles as people-carriers for transporting workmen to remote locations, as well as by private users. Like
27280-432: Was able to detect helicopters hovering or travelling at low altitude and in areas of high clutter by detecting the movement of the helicopter's rotor blades. Initial engagement is similar to the original Rapier, but the target was illuminated and automatically tracked by a high power YAG:Nd laser. After the missile was launched the laser alternately illuminated the target and missile to determine their locations, and guidance
27456-460: Was added to the engine line, which after 1967 included a 2.6-litre inline six-cylinder petrol engine for the long-wheelbase models, which also had servo-assisted brakes. 811 of these were NADA (or North American Dollar Area) trucks, which were the only long-wheelbase models made for the American and Canadian markets. From February 1969 (home market), the headlamps moved into the wings on all models, and
27632-655: Was an early example that was designed specifically to replace the Bofors 40 mm gun on its mount, and became the first operational point-defense SAM. The American RIM-7 Sea Sparrow quickly proliferated into a wide variety of designs fielded by most navies. Many of these are adapted from earlier mobile designs, but the special needs of the naval role has resulted in the continued existence of many custom missiles. As aircraft moved ever lower, and missile performance continued to improve, eventually it became possible to build an effective man-portable anti-aircraft missile. Known as MANPADS ,
27808-445: Was classified as a "multi-purpose vehicle" which was only to be classed as a commercial vehicle if used for commercial purposes. The 1954 model year brought major changes. The 80-inch (2.03 m) wheelbase model was replaced by an 86-inch (2.18 m) wheelbase model, and a 107-inch (2.72 m) wheelbase " pick up " version was introduced. The extra wheelbase was added behind the cab area to provide additional load space. In mid-1954
27984-403: Was closely rationed. The choice of colour was dictated by military surplus supplies of aircraft cockpit paint, so early vehicles only came in various shades of light green. The first pre-production Land Rovers were being developed in late 1947 by a team led by engineer Arthur Goddard . Tests showed this prototype vehicle to be a capable and versatile machine. The PTO drives from the front of
28160-411: Was closely related to the 2.0-litre diesel unit still in use. This engine became the standard Land Rover unit until the mid-1980s when diesel engines became more popular. The 109-inch (2.77 m) Series II station wagon introduced a twelve-seater option on top of the standard ten-seater layout. This was primarily to take advantage of UK tax laws, by which a vehicle with 12 seats or more was classed as
28336-547: Was extensively tested at Woomera , considerably supported by the Australian Army , an early user of the Rapier system. In 1965, some Australian staff at Woomera began to develop a simulator system understand and tune the manual guidance system. This consisted of a joystick from the Rapier optical tracker which caused the projected image of the missile to move about. Models of the missile and various target aircraft were constructed and filmed using stop motion techniques to make
28512-818: Was launched in 1948. At that time, the Army was more interested in developing a specially designed military utility 4×4 (the Austin Champ ). However, the Champ proved too complex, heavy and unreliable in battlefield conditions so the Army looked to the Land Rover. In the late 1940s the Ministry of Defence was keen on the standardisation of its vehicles and equipment. Part of this plan was to fit Rolls-Royce petrol engines to all its vehicles (even though most were not actually built by R-R). A batch of series-I Land Rovers were fitted with Rolls-Royce B40 four-cylinder engine, which required modification to an 81-inch (2.06 m) wheelbase). However,
28688-588: Was named "BOP" (Buick-Olds-Pontiac). McWilliams listed specifications he wanted in addition to the V8 such as Primrose Yellow paint, black upholstery, side pipes from a Corvette, a Hurst shifter, making a hot rod in the California sense of the word. Green had other ideas. A new 1966 88" Station Wagon was collected at the SF Docks and taken to British Sports Car Service in Hayward, California for teardown. Green designed and drew
28864-401: Was proposed whereby a rocket would follow a searchlight beam onto a target. A selenium cell was mounted on the tip of each of the rocket's four tail fins, with the cells facing backwards. When one selenium cell was no longer in the light beam, it would be steered in the opposite direction back into the beam. The first historical mention of a concept and design of a surface-to-air missile in which
29040-472: Was redesigned to accept a new moulded plastic dash. The instrument cluster, which was previously centrally located, was moved to the driver's side. Long-wheelbase series-III vehicles had the Salisbury rear axle (the differential housing and axle case are one piece) as standard, although some late SIIA 109-inch (2,800 mm) vehicles had them too. North American sales from the factory ceased in 1974. In 1980,
29216-563: Was repeated in many countries in Africa and the Middle East. A rail-road version was developed in partnership with Dunlop . The Series IIA FC launched in 1962 was based on the Series IIA 2.25-litre petrol engine and 109 in (2,769 mm) chassis, with the cab positioned over the engine to give more load space. Export vehicles were the first Land Rovers to get the 2.6-litre petrol engine. Most examples had an ENV (heavy duty) rear axle,
29392-580: Was seen generally; in November 1943 the Director of Gunnery Division of the Royal Navy concluded that guns would be useless against jets, stating "No projectile of which control is lost when it leaves the ship can be of any use to us in this matter." The first serious consideration of a SAM development project was a series of conversations that took place in Germany during 1941. In February, Friederich Halder proposed
29568-442: Was sent to the missile as normal (see laser guidance ). Laserfire thus represented a fairly major upgrade to the original optical system, allowing semi-automatic engagements, and greatly reducing operator skill and training requirements. On the downside, Laserfire no longer has the optical system of the original, which served an important second duty by allowing the aircraft to be visually identified at long range. Additionally, while
29744-416: Was similar to Rapier in basic concept, but based on older technologies and thus somewhat larger and heavier while offering less range and much slower speeds. Tigercat was introduced into service with No 48 Squadron RAF Regiment in 1968, giving the RAF Regiment the UK's first effective fully air portable low-level SAM system and valuable experience in operating systems of this type. In 1972 a trials unit known as
29920-414: Was so accurate that the missile almost always hit the target aircraft, so despite its small warhead and lack of a proximity fuze it almost guaranteed a kill. BAC joked that the system was a "hit-ile", as opposed to a "miss-ile". It also became clear that the warning radar system would be invaluable in the field, and GASR.3134 was dropped. The first test firings of the missile took place in 1966. The system
30096-509: Was that the Tracked Rapier launcher had eight (protected) missile rails compared with four in the towed system, enhancing firepower and reducing re-supply requirements. It was also air-portable, ready to deploy on landing, in C-130 aircraft. There was no room for Blindfire on a single RCM748 vehicle, so this was instead towed or was to be carried on a separate modified M548/RCM748. Feeding data to
30272-513: Was the first operational SAM system, and the Soviet Union's S-75 Dvina was the most-produced SAM system. Widely used modern examples include the Patriot and S-300 wide-area systems, SM-6 and MBDA Aster Missile naval missiles, and short-range man-portable systems like the Stinger and 9K38 Igla . The first known idea for a guided surface-to-air missile was in 1925, when a beam riding system
30448-473: Was to fly lower, below the line-of-sight of missile's radar systems. This demanded very different aircraft, like the F-111 , TSR-2 , and Panavia Tornado . Consequently, SAMs evolved rapidly in the 1960s. As their targets were now being forced to fly lower due to the presence of the larger missiles, engagements would necessarily be at short ranges, and occur quickly. Shorter ranges meant the missiles could be much smaller, which aided them in terms of mobility. By
30624-403: Was used as a movie screen onto which terrain images were projected. A copper vapor laser projected images of targets and the missiles in-flight on top of the background imagery, while a smaller helium-neon laser simulated the Rapier's tracking flare. A complete Rapier targeting unit was placed in the center of the dome, and its guidance signals were captured and sent to the simulator to update
30800-411: Was whilst the Series IIA was in production that sales of utility Land Rovers reached their peak, in 1969–70, when sales of over 60,000 Land Rovers a year were recorded. (For comparison, the sales of the Defender have been around the 25,000 level since the 1990s.) As well as record sales, the Land Rover dominated many world markets- in Australia in the 1960s Land Rover held 90% of the 4×4 market. This figure
30976-405: Was wooden-framed and had seating for seven people. Tickford was well equipped in comparison with the standard Land Rover, having leather seats, a heater, a one-piece laminated windscreen, a tin-plate spare wheel cover, some interior trim and other options. The wooden construction made them expensive to build. The Tickford was taxed as a private car, which attracted high levels of Purchase Tax unlike
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