Upgrades / Retrofits |
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Application of appropriate measures may significantly extend the service life of weapon systems already in operation. Rheinmetall Air Defence offers retrofit kits for upgrading fire control units and guns at present in service.
The 35 mm Guns can be upgraded in various steps: with the computer-assisted electro-optical Gunking sight for autonomous target tracking, with the automatic reloading system, or with a power supply unit integrated into the gun trailer.
The application of Ahead to the 35 mm twin guns provides the Skyguard system with anti-missile capabilities. The Ahead system involves the timing of a round fired towards the point of impact in such a way that at a distance of somewhere between 10 and 40 meters ahead of the target, 152 heavy tungsten metal sub-projectiles are released from the round. This cloud of sub-projectiles flies towards the approaching target, where the tiny spin-stabilized tungsten cylinders, each weighing 3.3 grams, penetrate into the target body - even at low angle of impact. Due to their high kinetic energy (the relative velocity is 1,200 m/s, approximately), they cause massive damage to the target's functional system components.
The unique concept of Ahead, i.e. the precisely timed ejection of the sub-projectiles in front of the target, is only ensured if all critical functions are perfectly coordinated. To achieve this, absolutely accurate target tracking is required in order to calculate the projectile flight time from the gun muzzle to the optimal point of sub-projectile ejection. The time fuze of each Ahead projectile is programmed at the muzzle velocity measuring base, depending on its individual muzzle velocity.
Finally, performance upgrades also include the replacement of individual components in well-established air defence systems. Thus, the analogue fire control unit Superfledermaus (SFL) can be modernized by the application of Skyshield modules or completely replaced by the Skyshield-35 fire control unit. This upgrade results in a substantial improvement due to new sensors for searching and tracking, new servo drives, new data processing, and human-machine interface. |
Main features |
The Skyguard Retrofit Kit includes
- increased ECM resistance
- easy, quick, and accurate target detection and acquisition
- improved target tracking performance
- improved data processing
- Ahead capability
- search system with new antenna and 3D performance
- networking capability
The Gun Retrofit Kit includes
- autonomous 3D sighting system
- automatic ammunition reloading system
- integrated power supply unit
- new gun control electronics
- Ahead capability
- reduced operator manpower requirements
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Rheinmetall Air Defence AG
Birchstrasse 155
CH-8050 Zürich, Switzerland
Phone: +41 44 316-2211
Fax: +41 44 311-3154
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