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Abbreviations


 

Armed Forces - a6a9 - British Army - Artillery - Phoenix UAV (Unmanned Aerial Vehicle)

ARTILLERY

PHOENIX UNMANNED AERIAL VEHICLE (UAV) - No Longer In Service

 

Phoenix in Kosovo

Phoenix was an all weather, day or night, real time surveillance system which consisted of a variety of elements. The twin boom UAV (unmanned air vehicle) provides surveillance through its surveillance pod, the imagery from which was data linked via a ground data terminal (GDT) to a ground control station (GCS).

This controls the overall Phoenix mission and was used to distribute the UAV provided intelligence direct to artillery forces, to command level, or to a Phoenix troop command post (TCP).

The principle method of communication from the GCS to artillery on the ground was via the battlefield artillery engagement system (BATES).

Powered by a 19kW (25hp) Target Technology 342 two stroke flat twin engine, the Phoenix air vehicle (with a centrally mounted fuel tank) was almost entirely manufactured from composites such as Kevlar, glass fibre, carbon reinforced plastics and Nomex honeycomb. The principal subcontractor was Flight Refuelling of Christchurch in Dorset.

The modular design UAV could be launched within one hour of reaching a launch site and a second UAV could be dispatched within eight minutes from the same launcher. The wing span was 5.5 m and the maximum launch weight 175 kgs. The manufacture, GEC states that "Flight endurance is in excess of four hours, radius of action 50 kms and the maximum altitude 2,700 m (9,000 feet).

A flight section consists of a launch and recovery detachment and a ground control detachment.
 

VILLAGE OUTSIDE PRISTINA , KOSOVO, Gunners of Sortie Troop, 22 Battery, 32 Regiment Royal Artillery, prepare a Pheonix remote controlled survellance aircraft for another mission over Kosovo. This little aircraft proved its worth prior to the British advance into Kosovo, by transmitting real time video surveillance of the route North into Pristina. It is powered by a two stroke petrol engine, has a ceiling of 9000 feet, and a flight endurance of approximately four hours

The launch and recovery detachment consisted of three vehicles; the launch support vehicle, with several UAVs and mission pods in separate battlefield containers, plus operational replacement spares and fuel; the launch vehicle, which features a pallet mounted lifting crane, the hydraulic catapult and launch ramp, a pre launch detonator device, built in test equipment, and the Land Rover recovery vehicle which is fitted with cradles for the air vehicle and mission pod.


The ground control detachment consisted of two vehicles, the ground control station and the Land Rover towed ground data terminal.

The British Army had one regiment (32 Regiment) equipped with Phoenix. Each of the three Phoenix batteries in 32 Regiment were equipped with 27 x UAV, with associated ground support equipment and a battery had enough resources to launch 72 flights. The total cost of the programme was £227 million and each Phoenix aircraft was believed to cost approximately £300,000. The overall initial purchase was 198 Phoenix.


The final operational flight of the Phoenix was conducted by in May 2006.

 

PHOENIX UAV Specifications

Length

3.8m

Wingspan 

5.5m

Maximum launch weight 

175kg 

Mission pod  

 

Weight mission pod 

50kg 

Propulsion 

 

Motor 

WAE 342, two stroke, flat twin fuel injection,19kW (25hp) 

Propeller 

Two blade fixed pitch wooden propeller, 780 mm 

Generator 

Plessey 900 watts

Performance 

 

Maximum speed 

85 knots, 155km/h

Flight endurance 

more than 4 hours 

Radius of operation 

more than 50 km 

Maximum altitude 

2,750m - 9,000ft

Launch & Recovery

Truck-mounted hydraulic catapult, parachute - airbag

 

 

Armed Forces - a5a14 - British Army - The Infantry - Milan 2

INFANTRY

MILAN 2 - No Longer In Service

       

A Milan anti-tank section search for targets, near Basra. Iraq. 25/03/2003 Troops of the 1st Battalion, The Royal Regiment of Fusiliers, observing the front line just outside Basra with their Milan anti Tank weapon

Milan 2 was a second generation anti-tank weapon, the result of a joint development project between France and West Germany, with British Milan launchers and missiles built under licence in the UK, by British Aerospace Dynamics. We believe that the cost of a Milan missile was in the region of £12,000 and that, the UK MoD purchased over 50,000 missiles. 

The Milan came in two main portable components, which are the launcher and the missile. It was a simple matter to clip both items together and prepare the system for use. On firing, the operator had only to keep his aiming mark on the target and the SACLOS guidance system would do the rest.

Milan was the first of a series of infantry anti-tank weapons that seriously started to challenge the supremacy of the main battle tank on the battlefield. During fighting in Chad in 1987, it appears that 12 Chadian Milan, post mounted on Toyota Light Trucks, were able to account for over 60 Libyan T-55s and T-62s. Reports from other conflicts suggest similar results.

Milan was on issue throughout the British Army and an armoured infantry battalion could be expected to be equipped with up to 24 firing posts and 200 missiles. Milan is in service with 36 nations worldwide and it is believed that there were over 1,000 firing posts in service with the British Army. It was replaced by the Javelin in mid-2005

In addition to being capable of defeating main battle tanks (MBTs) from all aspects, Milan was also required to have a secondary capability against other battlefield targets, such as fixed defences.

Milan 2 Specifications

MISSILE:

 

Max Range

2,000m

Mix Range

25m

Length 

918mm

Weight

6.73kg 

Diameter 

125mm

Wing Span 

267mm

Rate of Fire

3-4rpm

WARHEAD:

 

Weight 

2.70kg

Diameter 

115mm

Explosive Content 

1.79kg

FIRING POST:

 

Weight 

16.4kg

Length 

900mm 

Height 

650mm

Width 

420mm

Armour Penetration 

352mm

Time of Flight to Max Range 

12.5 secs

Missile Speed 

720km/h

Guidance

Semi-Automatic command to line of sight by means of wires (SACLOS)