JAZZ

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seems to have been a number of german short range SAM programmes in the late 1990's

Perhaps for our german memebrs - BGT version of HFK/KV a two stage missile, with boster and coast to target second stage at mach-3 to a range of 12km. Photo below (JSWS-issue 30)

others were
DASA HKK/L2 missile
LKF NG LeFla light SAM
Bayern Chemie exp hypervelocity missile and
Roland M5 hypervelocity missile

has anyone a good photo of BGT's HKF/KV and any information as to the programme?
 

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While we are on the subject, does anyone have a photos of Diehl HAF anti-helicopter missile (Hubschrauber Abwehr Flugkorper) development began 1983.

Data I have is as follows
length 1.5m
Diameter 200mm
Weight 50kg
Speed Mach 2.9
Max range 5000m
min range 500m
 
Jazz,
I very litle knowledge of these programs. I do have some pics which may interest you. They're taken from Janes IDR and EAD's web site. Sorry I couldn't be more helpful. If there are answers available, this forum is the place to find them.
 

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Thanks elider...didn't know about the air-launched variant. I will have a we look around the libary and see what else I can find. Great pics
 
On the German-Dutch Wind Tunnel website i found this picture of a model. I have no idea what it is, but it has Grid fins, and all the other missile pictures in the gallery show German projects. The other pictures have abbreviations of the missiles name in the file-name. In this file it say "hafkin".
 

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I found an archived document about Roland that has some information on Roland RM5 and on HFK:
Roland RM-5:
Aerospatiale, Matra, and Messerschmitt-
Bolkow-Blohm had commenced a joint development
program aimed at the design and production of a
hypervelocity missile as part of a wide-ranging upgrade
for the Roland air defense system. Development and
production of the new missile, designated Roland
RM-5, was expected to cost FRF1 billion ($180 million)
over the next five years. Aerospatiale and MBB invited
Matra to join their team based on the market studies that
Matra had undertaken in 1988 regarding the feasibility
of developing/producing a hypervelocity missile.
The program’s costs were to be evenly divided among
the three companies, as were the development work,
production, and profits. Aerospatiale was to have acted
as the general coordinator of the program, but a steering
committee, comprising executives from the three
partners, was to supervise the program. The partners
were committed to the preliminary design phase only.
This phase continued until mid-1991, at an estimated
cost of FRF150 million ($25.95 million). The next key
decision, on whether to launch full-scale development,
came in late 1991 when Germany and France decided
not to pursue this option.
The RM-5 was to be equipped with a dual-purpose
warhead that produced dense, heavy, high-kinetic
energy fragments effective against hardened targets,
plus a proximity fuse for very-low-altitude firings and
the destruction of small targets. In addition, the agility
of the missile (70 G at 8 km) was to have allowed it to
intercept fast aircraft making evasive maneuvers at 6 G
or turns at 9 G. With a maximum range of 16 km, an
effective range of 12 km, and maximum altitude of 8
km, the RM-5 was to provide the ability to engage
aircraft carrying stand-off missiles before these
weapons could be released.
The RM-5 was intended primarily for use with the new
Glaive version of the Roland fire unit, which
Aerospatiale and MBB were developing through the
joint venture firm Euromissile. The Glaive fire unit
consisted of an improved sight, with a new infrared
optical sensor in addition to the radar and optronic
sensors of current versions. Its development, estimated
at FRF600 million ($108.5 million), was being funded
by the French and Federal German governments under a
1989 joint contract. The Glaive fire unit was scheduled
to enter service in 1996.
Roland HFK Upgrade:
BGT is offering an alternative
to the VT-1 missile for the Roland air defense system
known as the HFK-KV. This hypervelocity missile is a
variant of the HFK-L2 demonstrator. The hypervelocity
missile would carry a kinetic kill vehicle equipped with
an infrared seeker, inertial reference unit, aerodynamic
control system, and directed-effect warhead. Maximum
speed would be Mach 5.
 
found another archived article that references HFK. The article mentions a bunch of projects from Rheinmetall, Diehl BGT and Zeiss.
Dr. Michael Langer, head of the BGT liaison office in Koblenz, reports that the company also is developing the HFK hypervelocity missile to replace the Roland surface-to-air missile system. Weapons in this category are scheduled for introduction in the inventory around 2010. The HFK system is now undergoing demonstration and validation tests by the German army. The missile is designed to fit into existing Roland missile launchers that are widely deployed. He notes that the Mach 6 missile was originally conceived to combat main battle tanks at medium distances to penetrate armor by means of kinetic-energy impact.

The HFK now is used primarily for defense against fast and low-flying aircraft and missiles at short distances. These targets require extremely short reaction times and thus very short flight times for an interceptor missile. Langer emphasizes that the “booster sends the HFK missile up to full speed within 1 second of launch. The missile’s range is out to 50 kilometers (30 miles),” he says. Emphasis is on autonomous guidance and control of hypersonic missiles by means of inertial systems and seeker-assisted terminal guidance.

“The kill vehicle separates from the missile in the endgame, when a nose cap is jettisoned and an IR seeker takes over in the 3- to 5-second terminal phase. An onboard processor is used with this very small and highly maneuverable kill vehicle,” Langer explains. Hypersonic missiles are controlled by lateral thrusters with extremely short reaction times or by aerodynamic control surfaces, which enable lateral accelerations over the entire flight. “The very small and highly agile kill vehicle can withstand heavy g loads.”
The range figure of 50km seems a bit extreme
 
Archived MBDA site about HFK:
HFK
Hypersonic Missile

Why hypersonic flight velocities….?
Extremely high flight velocities (Mach 5 to 7) are necessary in time-critical situations when engaging targets with short exposure times and in extreme threat and duel situations.

German hypersonic missile technology programme
Because of the cutting-edge requirements regarding speed, agility and manoeuvrability, the design of state-of-the-art missiles requires the application of new technologies for a variety of system components.
LFK has conducted successful flight tests with the experimental HFK hypersonic missile to evaluate the limits of relevant technologies in a realistic flight environment.
All previous calculations concerning flight trajectory and flight behaviour have been fully confirmed.

Main advantages
-Flight velocity Mach 7+ in low level flight, manoeuvrability 100g;
-Integrated airframe design with aerodynamic fin control;
-Broad spectrum of future applications;
-Technology investigations into hypersonic aerodynamics, guidance and control;
-Modular high-performance test vehicle, adaptable for different experiments.

Potential applications
Hypersonic technologies for the military applications of tomorrow
-Air defence against pop-up targets (artillery shells)
-Suppression/destruction of enemy air defences
-Boost phase intercept
-TBM LCHR intercept/Conventional Counter Force
-Asymmetric warfare against sea targets
-Combat of armoured vehicles and structures
-Combat of sea-skimming missiles
 
On AEROSPACE RESEARCH CENTRAL there are a bunch of (unfortunately paywalled) papers by Bayern-Chemie on the development of the engines for both HFK, MSA(Modulare Schubanpassung/Modular Thrust Technology) and LFK-NG. They also include pictures of all the demonstrators.
Link
Example of some good stuff:
In the years 2004 till 2006 more flights are
planned within a planned German-Swedish
joint HVM program. While some of the flights
will be carried out using the RM version HFK
2000 B, a boost - base-bleed version named
HFK 2000 BBB will be developed. It will have
the same case, the same nozzle, but a
different grain configuration, thus adapting the
thrust history perfectly to the respective
mission requirement.
 
(Janes strategic weapons systems (JSWS-issue 30)- black white photo)
found it in JSWS issue 38 which is available on archive.org:
HFK
A Hochgeschwindigkeitsflugkorper (HFK) hypervelocity surface-to-air missile research programme was started in Germany in 1990, and at least two different designs have been tested. A BGT design, known as HFK/KYV, was tested with eight firings up to December 2001. The missile had a length of 2.8 m, and a launch weight of 60 kg. This missile was in two stages, with the 44 kg first stage a solid propellant boost motor fitted with four folding fins that accelerated the missile up to M5 in around 1 second. The boost motor assembly was then jettisoned and the unpowered second stage flew to the target. The 16 kg second stage was called a Kill Vehicle (KV), this had a length of 0.9m, and had an inertial measurement unit, a 5 kg warhead, four small control fins and an imaging IR seeker. The seeker had 32 detector elements that were scanned to provide an image, enabling the second stage to home onto the target. The imaging IR seeker was protected from the heat generated by the high speed of the missile, by an ablative nosecone, that was jettisoned 2 to 3 seconds before intercept. The HFK/KV missile design was planned to be interchangeable with existing Roland canisters and launch systems, and was expected to have a maximum range of 12 km.
A second version was designed by DASA (LFK, now part of EADS), known as HFK/L. This version was a single-stage missile, but with a solid propellant boost motor that burned for 0.8 seconds and accelerated the missileto M5.3 (1.8 km/s). The HFK/L missile was first flown in 1995, and guided flight trials continued up to February 2002. The missile had a launch weight of 100 kg and included 36 solid propellant side thrusters forward of the centre of gravity and four lattice box type control fins at the rear. The lattice control fins were similar to those used on the Russian AA-12 ‘Adder’ air-to-air missile and SS-2 1 ‘Scarab‘ short-range ballistic missile. It was reported that this missile would have active or semi-active radar guidance, although a dual-mode active radar/ imaging IR seeker was also proposed. The initial HFK/L missile had a range of 12 km. In October 2000 a second phase of research was contracted with LFK, to develop two further missiles with a larger boost motor. The new motor will burn for 1.8 seconds, and will accelerate the missile to M7.0 (2.3km/s). The first test of the new missile was made in February 2002. A joint proposal was made by BGT and LFK in June 2001 to co-ordinate the two earlier projects into one design, to be used as a replacement for the Roland SAM and for possible use as an AAM from helicopters. The new design is for a two- stage missile, with first- and second-stage solid propellant motors. The first-stage motor has TVC, The motor efflux from the second-stage motor will be exhausted from two side nozzles in the missile body, forward of the wings. This will enable the two motors to be fired together or sequentially, depending on the target range. The missile has four long chord wings at mid-body and four control fins at the rear, similar to the IRIS-T air-to-air missile and SM-2MR Standard surface-to- air missile. The flight speed will be 2.0 to 2.5 km/second, with a range in excess of 10 km. The second stage has an IIR seeker, with inertial guidance in mid-course and a command uplink to enable the missile to intercept targets behind hills or terrain cover. A small fragmentation warhead will probably be fitted, although the objective is to achieve 'hit-to-kill'. Full-scale development is expected to start in 2004, with a planned in-service date of 2009.
 

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DBDüberlingenHFK.jpg
Front of the transparent HFK/KV model in color
other interesting visible stuff is on the left the tip of the Barracuda supercavitating torpedo and next to it something that looks like a multispectral seeker, maybe related to ARMIGER
 
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Article (in German) on the early HFK program. The explored capabilities seem very ambitious: Anti-tank, SHORAD, naval CIWS and last ditch defense against tactical ballistic missiles all in one. The main focus of the article are the different guidance options considered: Onboard seeker, beam-riding or a combination of both.

Edit: Also interestingly MAN is not one of the companies listed in the article as participating. But in the image the missile clearly has the MAN logo on it and the image is labeled as MT-(work)share which could very well stand for 'MAN Technologie' (The aerospace division of MAN)
 

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A few months ago i found this picture in a Wehrtechnik issue showing a concept of a 'Hubschrauberfaust'.
In the late 90s the Bundeswehr wanted a manpad/crewpad capable of fighting Helicopters beyond line of sight (lock on after launch). DASA was developing a new missile with a double-pulse rocket motor while BGT developed an upgraded seeker for the Stinger for this requirement. Later both these concepts would be merged to form the LFK-NG.
But the weird thing about this concept images, is that it is neither from BGT nor from DASA/LFK. Its from Buck, a company mostly known for producing multi-spectral smoke launchers/grenades.
And this is not the only thing pointing to a development of a manpad at Buck: There are a series of Buck patent focusing on manpads with LOAL capability and there is a talk a Buck representative made at this defence-technology conference with the title 'Hubschrauberfaust'.
The same conference also has a bunch of other talks relevant for this topic: For example on hypersonic missiles, grid fins and light SAMs.
Maybe at some point i will find the time to look at the conference proceedings in Hannover, but atm i unfortunately dont really have time for that
 

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