Eclectic German Research Quickens Pace

Building on a broad research base at the forefront of military technologies, German industry is developing a vast array of components and systems for the Bundeswehr and other allied military forces. New concepts tumble forth almost daily from German industry and government laboratories to improve tactical programs, especially in the areas of sensor, fire control, combat management, communication and simulation systems.

Among the more innovative concepts emerging from laboratories for demonstrations are main battle tanks that have defenses against missile and anti-armor gun attacks and smoke screens that conceal friendly forces while allowing them to see through the obscurant to engage enemy armor. Large-scale simulation systems provide intense realistic training, and command, control, communications, computers, intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance systems form an integrated grid to link German and coalition forces.

Diehl Corporation, Nürnberg; Rheinmetall DeTec AG, Ratingen; and Zeiss Optronik GmbH, Oberkochen, are examples of German companies on the frontier of technical exploration. These companies embody far-reaching changes as concentrations of subsidiaries and affiliates in related industries increasingly occur in Europe’s aviation and defense markets.

A new armored defensive system involves the use of a small electronically scanned phased array radar mounted on a tank to detect, acquire, track and thwart anti-armor missiles and projectiles armed with shaped-charge warheads. This German defense ministry research program’s demonstration and validation effort in northern Germany shows the technical feasibility of protecting tanks. No additional armor or added weight are necessary for an already heavy weapon system, according to Dr. Klaus Schluter. He is an engineer with Diehl VA Systeme subsidiary, Bodenseewerk Gerätetechnik GmbH (BGT), Überlingen, Germany.

Electronically scanning beams of the phased array radar quickly locate and track inbound threats, determining their range in relation to the tank. The system’s computer calculates within microseconds precisely when to fire small grenades, Schluter points out. The grenades intercept incoming projectiles. As a grenade flies toward its intended target, it does so at a tilted angle, striking the attacking projectile approximately 10 meters from the tank.

The grenade’s impact causes the penetrator to become unstable or tumble off axis, Schluter states. Even if the anti-armor round strikes the tank, damage would not be severe because changing the angle at which it hits disrupts the effectiveness of a hollow-shaped charge. He explains the developmental importance of this defensive armor system. Tanks and other armored vehicles are close to the useful limit of protective gear that can be added. Meanwhile, new designs for projectiles, for example, anti-armor missiles and tandem shaped-charge warheads, are shifting the technical advantage in the cat and mouse game that tanks must play against anti-armor weapons.

This grenade launcher system offers the potential to defeat various anti-armor weapons. Each grenade can be fired at ±30 degrees elevation, with a rate of fire for each in less than a minute, Schluter stresses. In addition to its normal 120-millimeter gun ammunition, a tank can also carry an adequate supply of grenades—approximately 50 rounds. He estimates this protective system could reduce the weight of a tank’s armor by about 30 percent and overall vehicle weight by half. The German defense ministry expects to field the protective grenade system capability with the German army by 2010.

A second protective system for armored vehicles uses the same basic principle and is being developed with a segmented grenade to intercept anti-armor missiles and destroy them in flight. The grenades’ engagement of missiles takes place approximately 25 meters from the vehicle, Schluter observes. A grenade launcher on each side of an armored vehicle can cover a 190-degree azimuth, with elevation from -10 degrees to +60 degrees.

This armor vehicle protection system uses a multispectral radar to track an incoming missile from a distance of 400 meters, Schluter maintains. BGT also is seeking advances in phased array radar technology for the program and is assessing sensors from Lockheed Martin and Northrop Grumman in the United States and DaimlerChrysler Aerospace AG, DASA, in Germany. This anti-missile protection system is for use with a new-generation German army personnel carrier scheduled to enter production in 2007, he continues.

With its heavy emphasis on armaments, BGT developed EPHAG, an anti-helicopter projectile fired by 120-millimeter smooth-bore guns on German Leopard 2 main battle tanks. The round, guided by an infrared (IR) seeker, pulls 30,000 g’s and uses movable, fold-out wings for control. Designed for self-defense against attack helicopters at distances up to 6 kilometers (3.6 miles), this weapon has been successfully demonstrated in several German army field trials, Schluter claims.

EPHAG leaves the tank gun’s muzzle at Mach 3 velocity, or 1,000 meters per second, and acquires the target with its IR seeker, using its control surfaces to navigate autonomously. Small kinetic-energy and high-explosive warheads located in the aft section of the missile detonate to destroy the target. During guided firing tests against simulated helicopters, EPHAG successfully engaged 2-meter x 2-meter targets at a distance of 4 kilometers, Schluter claims.

Dr. Michael Langer, head of the BGT liaison office in Koblenz, reports that the company also is developing the HFK hypervelocity missile to replace the Roland surface-to-air missile system. Weapons in this category are scheduled for introduction in the inventory around 2010. The HFK system is now undergoing demonstration and validation tests by the German army. The missile is designed to fit into existing Roland missile launchers that are widely deployed. He notes that the Mach 6 missile was originally conceived to combat main battle tanks at medium distances to penetrate armor by means of kinetic-energy impact.

The HFK now is used primarily for defense against fast and low-flying aircraft and missiles at short distances. These targets require extremely short reaction times and thus very short flight times for an interceptor missile. Langer emphasizes that the “booster sends the HFK missile up to full speed within 1 second of launch. The missile’s range is out to 50 kilometers (30 miles),” he says. Emphasis is on autonomous guidance and control of hypersonic missiles by means of inertial systems and seeker-assisted terminal guidance.

“The kill vehicle separates from the missile in the endgame, when a nose cap is jettisoned and an IR seeker takes over in the 3- to 5-second terminal phase. An onboard processor is used with this very small and highly maneuverable kill vehicle,” Langer explains. Hypersonic missiles are controlled by lateral thrusters with extremely short reaction times or by aerodynamic control surfaces, which enable lateral accelerations over the entire flight. “The very small and highly agile kill vehicle can withstand heavy g loads.”

Specializing in the development and production of complete guidance and control units, seekers, guidance computers/automatic pilots and fin actuators, BGT meets its own requirements and those of other European missile system companies. The company’s development of IR, bispectral and multispectral seekers provides guidance systems for a wide range of applications. One BGT development effort is for a national technology “ABG” program, a multispectral seeker for use on unmanned platforms and air-to-surface missiles. This sensor is designed to locate and attack enemy command and control posts.

The ABG seeker contains an intelligent wideband radio receiver, millimeter-wave radar, imaging IR sensor and an imaging multisensor processing unit. Involved in flight testing, ABG is on track to become operational around 2005. Development of ARAS, another bispectral seeker head will provide a wider-band radar receiver and a higher-resolution IR detector (see page 36). A new technology seeker is also in development by BGT for use in medium-range missiles to combat aerial targets. This radar/infrared technology development program will use conformal radar antennas, active radar transmit/receive modules and micromechanical mirror arrangements in the IR section.

As part of a four-nation program, with Germany as the lead nation and with the participation of Great Britain, Italy and Norway, BGT produced more than 30,000 IR-guided AIM-9 Sidewinder air-to-air missiles. AIM-9 deliveries went to nine European countries. Now, the company is focusing on the IRIS-T, a Sidewinder follow-on missile system selected by the German air force. The missile also is slated for introduction with the armed forces of Canada, Greece, Italy, Norway and Sweden. IRIS-T development is scheduled to be completed in 2002 by a multinational consortium under the direction and overall responsibility of Germany.

Designed as a highly maneuverable missile with a new type of imaging IR seeker head, IRIS-T uses a combination of aerodynamic and thrust-vector tail control. A pilot can slave the missile’s seeker to a target using his airborne radar, an IR search-and-track device or via a helmet-mounted sight. The seeker’s look-angle range of ±90 degrees is used during aerial engagements.

This missile program is managed by BGT as the prime contractor, with Italy’s Alenia-OTO and Sweden’s Saab Dynamics participating as system-level subcontractors; individual assembly development companies are Canada’s AlliedSignal, Norway’s Raufoss, Italy’s FiatAvio and Lital, and Greece’s Hellenic Aerospace, Intracom and Pyrkal.

Rheinmetall DeTec AG, is the lead company of the Rheinmetall Group’s defense technology arm. Dr. Dirk Kilfitt, an electrical engineer involved in the company’s marketing, describes special research and development efforts to make smoke that allows visibility from one side only, enabling those using it to look outside and shoot. An enemy, however, cannot see through the smoke screen to return fire. “This smoke screen is based on special physical effects that are similar to optical elements that cover office building windows, blocking sunlight from entering while providing a clear view to the outside for those inside. The technology development is from two Rheinmetall W&M subsidiaries—NICO Pyrotechnik and BUCK Neue Technologien,” he discloses.

A new H 400 armored combat vehicle from Rheinmetall, recently on display at Le Bourget Airport north of Paris during Eurosatory 2000, is a well-protected wheeled vehicle designed for high mobility. Customers can choose the options they require in an armored vehicle, including a KUKA Wehrtechnik turret with a smooth-bore automatic 105-millimeter tank gun, Kilfitt discloses. Recoil forces are significantly reduced to adapt to the 14.5-ton vehicle dynamics. Other variants are a 30-millimeter automatic cannon or a 35/50-millimeter weapon system from Swiss-based Oerlikon Contraves, another Rheinmetall subsidiary, as is KUKA, he recounts.

The H 400’s fire control system can be provided in four variants. These include the AOZ, an autonomous optronic aiming device for day and night aiming of directly sighted weapons. A daylight camera and thermal imager permit aiming at moving or stationary targets via a monitor with a large screen magnifier, Kilfitt says. Target distance is measured by an integrated Raman laser rangefinder for fire control computation, taking into account the type of ammunition and canting involved.

A compact electro-optical fire control assembly called SEOSS is a new-generation digital system. Its electro-optical sensor is mounted on the surface of the turret. A high-performance, third-generation thermal imager is an option, with fire control and identification performance comparable to advanced main battle tanks, Kilfitt points out.

FAUST is a system designed for mobile combat against ground and airborne targets. A stabilized line-of-sight 360-degree periscope allows observation and surveillance without turning the turret. A modular laser fire control system called MOLF, a derivative of the Leopard fire control, is designed to improve combat effectiveness of various types of main battle tanks. This system permits firing on the move with first-hit probability using a two-axis-stabilized sight with both daylight and thermal imaging channels.

STN ATLAS Electronik, another Rheinmetall DeTec subsidiary, provides a modular universal vehicle command and control system that is available in different versions. Army command and control equipment, or ACE, suitable for all types of land vehicles is intended for integration into existing vehicles where space is at a premium, Kilfitt informs. This company has provided fire control systems for Germany’s entire fleet of Leopard 2 tanks and more than 5,000 state-of-the-art fire control systems located throughout North Atlantic Treaty Organization nations for the Leopard tank family.

Zeiss Optronik GmbH, a subsidiary of the Carl Zeiss Group, supplies specialized products such as thermal cameras for navies, armies and air forces worldwide, Bernd Preber says. He is Zeiss’s vice president for marketing and sales in Central Europe. The product spectrum ranges from 3- to 5-micron and 8- to 12-micron thermal cameras, to stabilized periscopes sensors, to laser rangefinders, optronic and electro-optic reconnaissance systems and missile guidance systems.

Preber continues that Zeiss Optronik systems are used in unmanned aerial vehicles, aircraft, helicopters, armored vehicles, submarines and on stabilized multisensor platforms for surface ships. A high-resolution digital video color camera system, called VOS, allows real-time surveillance from both high and low altitude. The central element in this camera’s resolution is the multispectral detector—three parallel photodiode line arrays, each with 6,000 pixels for red, green and blue colors. Spectral response is 350 to 1,050 nanometers, and a cutoff filter in front of the lens limits the spectral response to 650 nanometers, generating a true color image, he explains.

Much of Germany’s research and development activity is aimed at enabling quick decisions based on rapid sensor input and data obtained in real time. Highly specialized applications of technological development in many areas of electronics, sensors and armaments coupled with the proximity of military customers continues to sustain market objectives for the nation’s defense industry. —CAR