Umkhonto (missile)

Umkhonto
Type	Surface-to-air missile
Place of origin	South Africa
Service history
Used by	See users
Production history
Manufacturer	Denel Dynamics
Specifications
Weight	130 kg (290 lb)
Length	3.32 m (10.9 ft)
Diameter	180 mm (7.1 in)
Warhead	23 kg (51 lb)
Wingspan	500 mm (20 in)
Flight ceiling	8,000 m (26,000 ft)
Speed	Approx Mach 2
Guidance system	All-aspect infra-red, command update fire and forget
Launch platform	8-cell (naval version) or 4-cell truck mounted land version

Umkhonto (Zulu: spear) is a South African, vertical launch (VLS) surface-to-air missile (SAM) manufactured by Denel Dynamics (formerly known as Kentron) available in infrared homing (Umkhonto-IR) and radar homing version (Umkhonto-R).

Variants

Umkhonto-IR Mk1

Designed for all-round defence against simultaneous air attacks from multiple targets, the Umkhonto-IR missile is the first vertically launched infrared-homing surface-to-air missile, also the first IR-homing missile to use lock-on-after-launch. Upon launch, the missile flies to a lock-on point, following on-board inertial navigation. The missile then activates its two-colour IR-seeker (variant of U-Darter AAM's seeker) and locks on. Target updates are received via data link, enabling the missile to counter evasive manoeuvres by the target.

The Umkhonto has a set of tail-mounted, aerodynamic control fins, as well as thrust vectoring vanes in the motor nozzle (similar to Denel's A-Darter AAM), allowing for 40 g manoeuvring. The system's 3-D fire-control radar enables simultaneous engagement of eight targets for the naval version. The missile uses a low-smoke propellant to avoid detection. In July 2005 it was successfully tested in various scenarios against Denel-made Skua drones.

Extended range versions (Umkhonto-ER) are in development. They will feature a rocket booster and IR or Radar seekers.

Umkhonto-IR Mk2

This variant of the IR Umkhonto was recently developed for the Finnish Navy. It has a more advanced seeker-head algorithms for differentiating between the target and background clutter often found in and around the Baltic archipelago. Because of the improvement in the seeker head, the newer version has a more efficient flight path allowing for an increase in range of 3km; a new maximum range of 15km.

Denel Dynamics has stated its intention to end production of the Mk1 and continue with Mk2 version of the missile, as a part of the missile's overall growth path.

Umkhonto-R

The radar-homing version's range is extended to 25 km (16 mi) and has a higher operational ceiling 12,000 m (39,000 ft). It is also 65 kg (140 lb) heavier and 98 cm (39 in) longer than the Umkhonto-IR version. Denel Dynamics is currently in negotiations with the Brazilian Navy for joint development of the missile.

Users

External images
	The Denel Umkhonto IR/R surface-to-air missiles on static display

Finland

• Finnish Navy: local designation ItO 2004, fitted on the Hamina class missile boats in 2002 and the Hämeenmaa class minelayers in 2006.

South Africa

• South African Navy: fitted on the Valour class frigates.

Potential sales

In 2004 Brazil expressed an interest in acquiring the missile system for its aircraft carrier São Paulo.

The Swedish government has expressed interest in the Umkhonto-IR system for five Visby class corvettes for at total cost of about 1 bn SEK. Due to budgetary contstraints a decision was taken in 2008 to delete the SAM requirement.

Daewoo Shipbuilding & Marine Engineering of South Korea proposed this system for their corvette offer for the Bangladesh Navy's Corvette tender in 2011. The offer is under consideration.

See also

• Barak VLS SAM
• Sea Wolf VLS SAM

References

Notes

External links

• Denel Dynamics Official Site
• Denel Official Site