Almost 12 years after the official start of the A-Darter air-to-air missile programme, Denel Dynamics has successfully completed the guided missile qualification test series.
In 2006, the missile system arm of the state-owned arms company Denel signed a contract with Brazil to jointly develop the weapon.
Japie Mare, Denel Dynamics’ A-Darter Programme Manager, said this was of great significance to South Africa as it was the country’s first fifth-generation air-to-air short range missile.
He added that worldwide there not many companies that could produce this. In terms of missiles, he said SA now ranked with the German-led consortium that produced the IRIS-T and Israel with its Python-5.
The qualification tests, which took place at the Denel Overberg Test Range in the Western Cape, consisted of four guided firings under different scenarios to validate the various capabilities of the missile.
Mare expanded on the capabilities of the fifth-generation missiles, saying they had the advantage of being able to be launched at 90 degrees to the target, almost like an over the shoulder shot – and could turn around faster. The missile employs an advanced infrared targeting system and thrust-vectoring control system.
He noted that this was also a development that would be followed with interest by the South African Air Force. Mare said compared to buying a weapon from overseas — with home-grown technology if there was a problem with software, technology or other features – or if upgrades were needed – they had the capabilities in terms of software and would also know how to do it.
Integration on the Gripen fighter aircraft already occurred in 2011 and he said in total they had already done about 22 launches from the aircraft; then they did all the development firings from 2011 and 2012.
He said: “We’ve now finished with the qualification launches. What still needs to be done to fully qualify is all the paperwork. We expect to finish that by April next year.”
This also increased the export possibilities as the missile is able to be carried by many types of modern fighters.
As he had been involved in the project in various capacities since about 2006, Mare said he felt very proud to have been part of the process. He said in comparison with overseas companies which could have hundreds of people working on a project, the team was very small – at one stage around 250 people who specialized in areas such as optronics, system engineering and electronics – but this number was later scaled down.
