AIR WEAPONS: Brazilian HARM For Pakistan

Tuesday, Dec 09, 2008

Brazil has sold a hundred MAR-1 anti-radiation missiles to Pakistan. The MAR-1 weighs 603 pounds, is 13 feet long and has a max range of 25 kilometers. It has a 200 pound warhead and is used to seek out and destroy air-defense radars. Pakistan paid about $1.1 million for each missile (including training, tech support and spare parts). Top speed of the missile is about a 1,200 kilometers an hour (335 meters a second). At max range, it takes about two minutes to reach a target. More common times would be about a minute.

The latest version of the U.S. anti-radiation missile, the 800 pound AGM-88D, uses GPS so that the missile, which normally homes in on radar transmissions, can be used to attack targets by location alone. MAR-1 uses a similar system. The AGM-88 moves at high speed (2,200 kilometers an hour, or 36 kilometers a minute) to hit targets 100 kilometers away. This version of the AGM-88 costs less than $100,000 each. The standard version uses more complex sensors which can detect and guide the missile to a wide variety of radar signals. These versions cost about $300,000 each. GPS enables HARM (or the aircraft carrying it) to locate a radar when it is turned on, store the GPS location, then go after the target regardless of whether it is turned on or off. MAR-1 has a target radar sensor that can detect signals up to 500 kilometers away.

Another recent model of the traditional version, the AGM-88E, uses a more expensive approach to nailing enemy radars that are turned on briefly, and attempts to avoid destruction by quickly turning off power. The missile, also called the Advanced Anti-Radiation Guided Missile (AARGM), was developed jointly by U.S. and Italian firms. The original AGM-88 has been in use since the 1980s, and the original 1960s anti- radiation missile quickly evolved into what was called HARM (High Speed Anti-Radiation Missile).

The AGM-88E version defeats the favorite trick of anti-aircraft units, shutting down their radars when they note a HARM is on the way. The AGM-88E remembers where the radar is when it was on, and carries its own high resolution (millimeter wave) radar to make sure it gets the radar. Finally, the AGM-88E can transmit a picture of the target, just before it is hit, so the user can be certain of what was taken out.

Source: Strategy Page