RIO DE JANEIRO, BRAZIL – The Brazilian Armed Forces are currently engaged in two campaigns to launch Avibras AV-MTC cruise missiles, and Avibras SS80G guided rockets. The so-called Astros XXI operation represents the continuity of the tests on these weapon systems previously carried out. However, it is the first time they have been carried out with the tracking of the portable Strev system, recently delivered by Omnisys, a local subsidiary of Thales, as part of the Astros 2020 program.
This system makes it possible to follow the missile firing sequence, from its exit from the launch container, through booster ejection and cruise engine activation, en-route navigation by waypoints and maneuvers, and final attack/dive on the target.
Strev records missile and rocket firing performance data concerning trajectory, speed, heading, the behavior of these weapons during launch, flight, and drop actions. Every detail is analyzed, building confidence for the program’s next step, firing with live ammunition.
The tests began yesterday, March 16, and will continue until next Friday, March 25, at the Barreira do Inferno Launch Center, a Brazilian Air Force facility used to test the Army’s cruise missiles with the Navy’s offshore security support.
It is expected that by 2023, the Army will be able to perform actual combat warhead firing, the missile will perform a complete mission within the design range, and will be able to find, hit, and destroy the target.
Once this target is validated, the AV-MTC can be declared ready for use, and its industrialization and the production of pilot batches can be prepared for delivery to the 6th and 16th Missile and Rocket Group, operational units headquartered at Fort Santa Barbara, just over 100 km from Brasilia.
With information from Infodefensa