The Polyphem was a proposed European light-weight fibre-optic
wire-guided surface-to-surface missile
A surface-to-surface missile (SSM) is a missile designed to be launched from the ground or the sea and strike targets on land or at sea. They may be fired from hand-held or vehicle mounted devices, from fixed installations, or from a ship. They ar ...
with a range of 60 km.
[ The project was cancelled in 2003.
]
Synopsis
Polyphem is the German name of Polyphemus
Polyphemus (; , ; ) is the one-eyed giant son of Poseidon and Thoosa in Greek mythology, one of the Cyclopes described in Homer's ''Odyssey''. His name means "abounding in songs and legends", "many-voiced" or "very famous". Polyphemus first ap ...
, the cyclops in the ''Odyssey
The ''Odyssey'' (; ) is one of two major epics of ancient Greek literature attributed to Homer. It is one of the oldest surviving works of literature and remains popular with modern audiences. Like the ''Iliad'', the ''Odyssey'' is divi ...
'' that got his eye stabbed out by Ulysses
Ulysses is the Latin name for Odysseus, a legendary Greek hero recognized for his intelligence and cunning. He is famous for his long, adventurous journey home to Ithaca after the Trojan War, as narrated in Homer's Odyssey.
Ulysses may also refer ...
.
The Polyphem missile uses a sealed round
A sealed round is a munition which is typically stored in some kind of container (usually a cylinder or box, but the container may in fact be the outside of the munition), so that the munition does not require any sort of maintenance and is stored ...
, a solid propellant
A propellant (or propellent) is a mass that is expelled or expanded in such a way as to create a thrust or another motive force in accordance with Newton's third law of motion, and "propel" a vehicle, projectile, or fluid payload. In vehicles, th ...
booster rocket
A booster is a rocket (or rocket engine) used either in the first stage of a multistage rocket, multistage launch vehicle or in parallel with longer-burning sustainer engine, sustainer rockets to augment the space vehicle's takeoff thrust and p ...
to launch the missile out of its canister to an initial height, so that the wings and control surfaces can unfold, and a more fuel economic turbojet
The turbojet is an airbreathing jet engine which is typically used in aircraft. It consists of a gas turbine with a propelling nozzle. The gas turbine has an air inlet which includes inlet guide vanes, a compressor, a combustion chamber, and ...
cruise engine kicks in to propel the missile.
The missile can be programmed to follow a preset course, using GPS
The Global Positioning System (GPS) is a satellite-based hyperbolic navigation system owned by the United States Space Force and operated by Mission Delta 31. It is one of the global navigation satellite systems (GNSS) that provide geol ...
or inertial guidance
An inertial navigation system (INS; also inertial guidance system, inertial instrument) is a navigation device that uses motion sensors (accelerometers), rotation sensors ( gyroscopes) and a computer to continuously calculate by dead reckoning ...
. An infrared
Infrared (IR; sometimes called infrared light) is electromagnetic radiation (EMR) with wavelengths longer than that of visible light but shorter than microwaves. The infrared spectral band begins with the waves that are just longer than those ...
seeker can be used to automatically pick a target and for the terminal guidance phase, but it is also possible to transfer the thermal images back to the launching platform via a 200 MBit/s
In telecommunications, data transfer rate is the average number of bits (bitrate), characters or symbols (baudrate), or data blocks per unit time passing through a communication link in a data-transmission system. Common data rate units are multi ...
data link provided by an optical fibre
An optical fiber, or optical fibre, is a flexible glass or plastic fiber that can transmit light from one end to the other. Such fibers find wide usage in fiber-optic communications, where they permit transmission over longer distances and at ...
, and manually select the target.
The Polyphem program was started in 1994 by Germany
Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It lies between the Baltic Sea and the North Sea to the north and the Alps to the south. Its sixteen States of Germany, constituent states have a total popu ...
, France
France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...
and Italy
Italy, officially the Italian Republic, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe, Western Europe. It consists of Italian Peninsula, a peninsula that extends into the Mediterranean Sea, with the Alps on its northern land b ...
. Italy later left the project.Braunschweig class corvette
The K130 ''Braunschweig'' class (sometimes Korvette 130) is Germany's newest class of ocean-going corvettes. Five ships have replaced the of the German Navy.
In October 2016 it was announced that a second batch of five more corvettes, originall ...
as anti-ship and land-attack missile
A land-attack missile (LAM) is a naval surface-to-surface missile that is capable of effectively attacking targets ashore, unlike specialized anti-ship missiles, which are optimized for striking other ships. Some dual-role missiles are suitable ...
, but that has been cancelled.
The Polyphem program as a whole was cancelled in 2003.ALAS missile
ALAS (advanced light attack system, ) is a Serbian long-range multipurpose wire guided missile system developed by the private company EDePro and the state-owned Yugoimport SDPR. The ALAS missile system was developed primarily for missions agai ...
.
Specifications
*Speed: 120—180 m/ s (around 430—650 km/h)
*Range: up to 60 km
*Altitude: 20 to 600 m above ground (variable)
*Missile mass: around 130 kg
*Length: 2.70 m
*Warhead: up to 20 kg
See also
* ALAS
*CM-501G
CM501G is a Chinese land attack missile first revealed during the 9th Zhuhai Airshow held in November 2012. Developed by China Aerospace Science and Industry Corporation (CASIC), CM-501G is also available in air and ship launched versions upon ...
*FOG-MPM
FOG-MPM (fiber optics guided multiple purpose missile) is a missile built by the Brazilian company Avibras. Its range is about 60 km. The weight is about 34 kg. Its main use is as an anti-tank, anti-fortification and anti-helicopter mis ...
*MGM-157 EFOGM
The Raytheon MGM-157 EFOGM (Enhanced Fiber Optic Guided Missile) was a long-range enhanced fiber optic guided missile developed for the U.S. Army
The United States Army (USA) is the primary land service branch of the United States Depart ...
*XM501 non-line-of-sight launch system
The non-line-of-sight launch system (NLOS-LS) was a self-contained missile launcher system that was under development by NETFIRES LLC, a partnership between Lockheed Martin and Raytheon. Each Container Launch Unit (CLU) holds 15 missiles, and a ...
*Type 96 multi-purpose missile system
The is an anti-tank/landing craft missile used by the JGSDF. It is the first Japanese missile system to use a complete digitally controlled interface.
History
Development of the Type 96 system began in 1986 by the JGSDF Ground Research and De ...
Notes
References
POLYPHEM - army-technology.com
{Unreliable source?, reason=domain on WP:BLACKLIST, date=June 2016
Surface-to-surface missiles of the European Union