ALARM (
Air Launched Anti-Radiation Missile) is a
BritishThe United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland is a sovereign state located off the northwestern coast of continental Europe. It is an island country, spanning an archipelago including Great Britain, the northeastern part of Ireland, and many small islands...
anti-radiation missileAn anti-radiation missile is a missile which is designed to detect and home in on an enemy radio emission source. Typically these are designed for use against an enemy radar, although jammers and even radios used for communication can also be targeted in this manner.- Air-to-Ground :Most ARM...
designed primarily to destroy enemy radars for the purpose of
Suppression of Enemy Air DefenseSEAD , or Suppression of Enemy Air Defenses, also known as "Wild Weasels" and "Iron Hand" operations in the USA, are military actions to suppress enemy surface-based air defenses , primarily in, but not limited to, the first hours of an attack.One fourth of American combat sorties in...
(SEAD). It is used by the
RAFThe Royal Air Force is the United Kingdom's air force, the oldest independent air force in the world. Formed on 1 April 1918, the RAF has taken a significant role in British military history ever since, playing a large part in World War II and in more recent conflicts.The RAF operates almost 1,109...
and the
Royal Saudi Air ForceThe Royal Saudi Air Force , is the air force branch of Saudi Arabian armed forces. After the Turkish Air Force and the Israeli Air Force, the RSAF has the third largest air combat capability in the Middle East. The RSAF has developed from a largely defensive military force into one with an advanced...
.
The
Ministry of DefenceThe Ministry of Defence is the United Kingdom government department responsible for implementation of government defence policy and is the headquarters of the British Armed Forces....
received bids for a new anti-radiation missile in late 1982;
British Aerospace DynamicsBritish Aerospace Dynamics Limited was a division of British Aerospace.British Aerospace was created in April 1977 by the merger of the British Aircraft Corporation, Hawker Siddeley Aviation, Hawker Siddeley Dynamics and Scottish Aviation...
offered ALARM while
Texas InstrumentsTexas Instruments , widely known as TI, is an American company based in Dallas, Texas, United States, renowned for developing and commercializing semiconductor and computer technology. TI is the No. 4 manufacturer of semiconductors worldwide after Intel, Samsung and Toshiba, and is the top supplier...
teamed with Lucas Aerospace offered its
HARMThe AGM-88 High-speed Anti-Radiation Missile is a tactical, air-to-surface missile designed to home in on electronic transmissions coming from surface-to-air radar systems. It was originally developed by Texas Instruments as a replacement for the AGM-45 Shrike and AGM-78 Standard ARM system...
missile. Defence Secretary
Michael HeseltineMichael Ray Dibdin Heseltine, Baron Heseltine, CH, PC is a British businessman, Conservative politician and patron of the Tory Reform Group....
announced the selection of ALARM on 29 July 1983.
ALARM (
Air Launched Anti-Radiation Missile) is a
BritishThe United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland is a sovereign state located off the northwestern coast of continental Europe. It is an island country, spanning an archipelago including Great Britain, the northeastern part of Ireland, and many small islands...
anti-radiation missileAn anti-radiation missile is a missile which is designed to detect and home in on an enemy radio emission source. Typically these are designed for use against an enemy radar, although jammers and even radios used for communication can also be targeted in this manner.- Air-to-Ground :Most ARM...
designed primarily to destroy enemy radars for the purpose of
Suppression of Enemy Air DefenseSEAD , or Suppression of Enemy Air Defenses, also known as "Wild Weasels" and "Iron Hand" operations in the USA, are military actions to suppress enemy surface-based air defenses , primarily in, but not limited to, the first hours of an attack.One fourth of American combat sorties in...
(SEAD). It is used by the
RAFThe Royal Air Force is the United Kingdom's air force, the oldest independent air force in the world. Formed on 1 April 1918, the RAF has taken a significant role in British military history ever since, playing a large part in World War II and in more recent conflicts.The RAF operates almost 1,109...
and the
Royal Saudi Air ForceThe Royal Saudi Air Force , is the air force branch of Saudi Arabian armed forces. After the Turkish Air Force and the Israeli Air Force, the RSAF has the third largest air combat capability in the Middle East. The RSAF has developed from a largely defensive military force into one with an advanced...
.
History
The
Ministry of DefenceThe Ministry of Defence is the United Kingdom government department responsible for implementation of government defence policy and is the headquarters of the British Armed Forces....
received bids for a new anti-radiation missile in late 1982;
British Aerospace DynamicsBritish Aerospace Dynamics Limited was a division of British Aerospace.British Aerospace was created in April 1977 by the merger of the British Aircraft Corporation, Hawker Siddeley Aviation, Hawker Siddeley Dynamics and Scottish Aviation...
offered ALARM while
Texas InstrumentsTexas Instruments , widely known as TI, is an American company based in Dallas, Texas, United States, renowned for developing and commercializing semiconductor and computer technology. TI is the No. 4 manufacturer of semiconductors worldwide after Intel, Samsung and Toshiba, and is the top supplier...
teamed with Lucas Aerospace offered its
HARMThe AGM-88 High-speed Anti-Radiation Missile is a tactical, air-to-surface missile designed to home in on electronic transmissions coming from surface-to-air radar systems. It was originally developed by Texas Instruments as a replacement for the AGM-45 Shrike and AGM-78 Standard ARM system...
missile. Defence Secretary
Michael HeseltineMichael Ray Dibdin Heseltine, Baron Heseltine, CH, PC is a British businessman, Conservative politician and patron of the Tory Reform Group....
announced the selection of ALARM on 29 July 1983. The initial order was 750 missiles for the RAF. The selection process was controversial; the battle between the contractors was bitter, the Ministry of Defence favoured ALARM to retain UK industrial capabilities while the Treasury favoured the cheaper and proven HARM.
In early 1986 BAe recognised that
Royal OrdnanceBAE Systems Land Systems Munitions is a part of BAE Systems Land Systems, itself a part of BAE Systems' Land & Armaments business. It was formed as Royal Ordnance plc on 2 January 1985 as a public corporation...
was having difficulties delivering the missile's motor, named Nuthatch, and began to consider alternatives. Royal Ordnance's solution to the required burn-loiter-burn characteristic of the engine was complex. In July 1987 BAe, by then the owner of Royal Ordnance, replaced the Nuthatch motor with a lower risk motor designed by Bayern-Chemie. BAe's
GB£The pound sterling , often simply called the pound, is the currency of the United Kingdom, its Crown dependencies and the British Overseas Territories of South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands and British Antarctic Territory...
200 million contract for the missile was renegotiated with the price increased to GB£400 million and delivery pushed back from 1988 to 1990.
Features
ALARM is a fire-and-forget system, with an added loiter capability.
In loiter mode, ALARM will, when launched, climb to an altitude of 13 km. If the target radar shuts down, the missile will deploy a parachute and descend slowly until the radar lights up. The missile will then fire a secondary motor to attack the target.
Combat Performance
ALARM has been used in the following conflicts:
- 1991 Gulf War
The Persian Gulf War , known also as the Gulf War, the First Gulf War,or often as the Second Gulf War and by Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein as The Mother of all Battles, or commonly as Desert Storm, for the military response...
, during which 121 missiles were used.
- Kosovo War
The term Kosovo War or Kosovo Conflict is used to describe two sequential and at times parallel armed conflicts in Kosovo:#Early 1998–1999: War between Yugoslav police forces, Yugoslav paramilitaries, and the Kosovo Albanian insurgents....
- 2003 Invasion of Iraq
The 2003 invasion of Iraq, was led by the United States, backed by British forces and smaller contingents from Australia, Denmark, Poland and Spain. Four countries participated with troops during the initial invasion phase, which lasted from March 20 to May 1...
During the 1999 'Allied Force' offensive in
KosovoKosovo is a disputed territory in the Balkans. Its majority is governed by the partially-recognised Republic of Kosovo , a self-declared independent state which has de facto control over the territory; the exceptions are some Serb enclaves...
, Luftwaffe Tornado ECR, USAF Wild Weasel F-16s and US Navy EA-6B Prowlers attempted to destroy a
SerbiaSerbia , officially the Republic of Serbia , is a country located in both Central and Southeastern Europe. Its territory covers the southern part of the Pannonian Plain and central part of the Balkans...
n air defence radar with
HARMsThe AGM-88 High-speed Anti-Radiation Missile is a tactical, air-to-surface missile designed to home in on electronic transmissions coming from surface-to-air radar systems. It was originally developed by Texas Instruments as a replacement for the AGM-45 Shrike and AGM-78 Standard ARM system...
. After almost 100 attempts, the RAF was called in and the radar was destroyed with a single ALARM, thanks to its loiter capability.
Specifications
- Primary Function: Suppression of Enemy Air Defence
- Contractor: MBDA
MBDA is a missile developer and manufacturer with operations in Britain, France, Germany, and Italy. It was formed by a merger of Aérospatiale-Matra Missiles , Finmeccanica and Matra BAe Dynamics in 2001...
- Power Plant: Bayern Chemie two stage solid propellant rocket motors
- Length: 4.24 m
- Diameter: 23 cm
- Wing Span: 73 cm
- Launch Weight: 268 kg
- Speed: 2455 km/h (supersonic)
- Warhead: Proximity fused high-explosive
An explosive material is a substance that either is chemically or otherwise energetically unstable or produces a sudden expansion of the material after initiation, usually accompanied by the production of heat and large changes in pressure . This event is called the explosion...
- Range: 93km
- Fuse: Laser Proximity
A proximity fuze is a fuze that is designed to detonate an explosive device automatically when the distance to target becomes smaller than a predetermined value or when the target passes through a given plane....
- Guidance system: Pre-programmed/passive radar seeker
- Unit Cost: undisclosed
- Date Deployed: 1990
- User: UK
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland is a sovereign state located off the northwestern coast of continental Europe. It is an island country, spanning an archipelago including Great Britain, the northeastern part of Ireland, and many small islands...
(RAFThe Royal Air Force is the United Kingdom's air force, the oldest independent air force in the world. Formed on 1 April 1918, the RAF has taken a significant role in British military history ever since, playing a large part in World War II and in more recent conflicts.The RAF operates almost 1,109...
)
- Tornado GR.4
The Panavia Tornado is a family of twin-engine combat aircraft, which was jointly developed by the United Kingdom, West Germany and Italy. There are three primary versions of the Tornado; the Tornado IDS fighter-bomber, the suppression of enemy air defences Tornado ECR and the Tornado ADV ...
, although only IX SquadronNo. 9 Squadron of the Royal Air Force was the first in the service to receive the Panavia Tornado, which it currently operates from RAF Marham, Norfolk.-History:...
and 31 SquadronNo. 31 Squadron of the Royal Air Force, known as the 'Goldstars', currently operates the Tornado GR4 from RAF Marham, Norfolk.-History:The squadron was formed at Farnborough on October 11, 1915. Its first deployment was to Risulpur, India with its BE2Cs and Farmans, and during this time it took...
specialise in the role.
- Tornado F3 - fitted in time for 2003 Gulf War
The 2003 invasion of Iraq, was led by the United States, backed by British forces and smaller contingents from Australia, Denmark, Poland and Spain. Four countries participated with troops during the initial invasion phase, which lasted from March 20 to May 1...
- receiving designation Tornado EF3
- Weapon has been "fit checked" on other RAF aircraft, such as the Jaguar
The SEPECAT Jaguar is an Anglo-French jet ground attack aircraft still in service with several export customers, notably the Indian Air Force and the Royal Air Force of Oman. It was among the first major Anglo-French military aircraft programs...
. Due to its relatively large weight it is not suited to the entire RAF fleet.
- Also expected to be usable on the Eurofighter Typhoon
The Eurofighter Typhoon is a twin-engine canard-delta wing multirole aircraft. It is being designed and built by a consortium of three separate partner companies: Alenia Aeronautica, BAE Systems, and EADS working through a holding company Eurofighter GmbH which was formed in 1986...
External links