Africa Aerospace & Defense 2014
Long-range Raptor III goes on display [AAD143]
David Donald
19 September 2014
Denel Dynamics is showing a model of its Raptor III precision stand-off weapon for the first time, in the company’s display outside Hangar 4. The weapon is tailored to a strategic mission against high-value targets, which are often hardened and well-defended.
Like its predecessor, the Raptor II, the new weapon has pop-out wings to extend range. However, the Raptor III is aerodynamically cleaner with its systems being housed within the weapon body.
Other systems, such as infrared seeker, have also been improved. The programme is currently in the development stage.
Raptor III is a long-range (less than 300km) weapon that can be programmed to fly a variety of flightpaths. It is guided by jam-resistant GNSS (global navigation satellite system) and inertial navigation, with optional low-light TV or imaging infrared terminal-phase seekers.
Automatic target recognition algorithms allow the weapon to identify its target and guide itself to impact with a circular error probability of less than 3m. Blast/frag and penetration warhead options are available.
Attack profiles are best planned on the ground for optimal mission planning, but the Raptor III has a datalink for in-flight target reprogramming. The weapon can be fully integrated with an aircraft’s fire control system, or linked to the carrier’s system by wireless transmission.