Shorts Tigercat

[Jemiba]

From the French Aviation Magazine, July 1960, a picture showing a proposed
version of the Shorts Tigercat:

 

[Petrus]

Here is another drawing of the Centurion-based Tigercat launcher. It seems the system might have an all-weather (at least 'dark fire' if not blind-fire) capability: note the radome of what could have been a tracking radar.

Btw do you have any idea whether there was a blind-fire version of the towed Tigercat ever envisaged or developed (afaik such a version has never seen service).

Piotr

 

[Jason Dykstra (Wyvern)]

Was there ever a "self-contained" Tigercat system which entered service? The Tigercat system did enter service, but its director and missiles were towed behind separate vehicles in most cases. Was there ever an attempt to tow the missiles behind a vehicle with the director already mounted on it?

 

[Kiltonge]

Btw do you have any idea whether there was a blind-fire version of the towed Tigercat ever envisaged or developed (afaik such a version has never seen service).

Yes it conducted Marconi ST850 firing tests around 1974 and was marketed with it shortly afterwards. Argentina showed interest in it as an upgrade, proposing up to eight radars, but I guess the money wasn't there.

The brochure arrangement was one radar directing two batteries with a third optical battery as backup.

Edit: from Radar Systems International No29, 1980 or later, apparently the ST850 Tigercat system was delivered to at least one customer! Detection range > 20km.

 

[xena]

Here on page 6 is a better picture of the system.

 

[BlackBat242]

 

[Brickmuppet]

I know that TigerCat/SeaCat started out as anti-tank missiles, did they retain an anti-surface capability as SAMs?

 

[Kiltonge]

I know that TigerCat/SeaCat started out as anti-tank missiles, did they retain an anti-surface capability as SAMs?

An early quote from Shorts was "If you hit a surface vessel with Seacat it will leave a very large hole".

Late 70s option was capacitance-based heightfinding* that prevented the missile from descending below 20ft; prior to that the controller could smash it into anything on the surface if he/she so wished.

* Embedded in a wing, took 15 mins to install on existing missiles with a bit of re-wiring involved. Presumably not applicable to the Hellcat ASM variant.