GreyWolf Anti Air Missile System

[Buzzbomb]

Called me inspired by Mr Claymore. A Lot 

The second part of the Takom Sea Dart kit is the Sea Wolf System.
Again a very neat kit of a nice subject.


Given the ongoing retirement of the Sea Wolf system, what about re-using them to value add an alternative Land Based Short Range AA system.
I have read that shipboard they have a pretty complex radar and tracking system, this would need a second vehicle, much like Claymore has done as a dedicated Battery tracking system.
If this works out.. maybe do that as well

So the first platform I had in mind was on the M578 Load Carrier. Got a kit in the stash but tried on an existing Chaparral vehicle for sizing.... hmmm not sure.
With an Armoured Cab like the Tracked Rapier platform it would chunky up a bit though. Perhaps a bit more research on weights. But cool outweighs facts here 


Then to take even more Claymore inspiration, what about the M107/110 Series Hulls.

I am leaning towards the M110 hull just on size and aesthetics.

[Jeffry Fontaine]

I keep forgetting that the Sea Wolf system uses a missile that has four large delta shape wings in addition to the smaller control fins at the rear of the missile body.  That makes the weapons a bit on the large[ish] side when it comes to the containers.  The size of the ladder on the launcher really caught my eye as it seemed out of scale with the rest of the launcher, then memory kicked in and all was good again. 

I agree, the placement of the launcher on the M107/M110 chassis looks to be ideal.  Since the radar are not attached to the launcher you could have another M107/M110 with the radar.  A battery of three to four launchers with one radar would be about the right size for an air defense missile unit for a brigade or larger formation.   

[Kerick]

That looks like a perfect drop in installation. A very interesting design.

[Old Wombat]

The M110 base looks better to me, but I'm concerned about weight. Although I acknowledge that a big chunk of steel has been removed to fit the launcher & missiles, I'm still a bit concerned. 

[GTX_Admin]

I like this idea.  The system would be slightly longer ranged than the Rapier SAM and in a roughly similar class to the SA-8.

[Gingie]

Maybe a quad launcher would balance it out better? The M110 chassis is definitely the way to go.

[raafif]

   I'd call it the Hydra There are several multi-headed dragons in mythology.

[apophenia]

Looking good 

The M110 base looks better to me, but I'm concerned about weight. Although I acknowledge that a big chunk of steel has been removed to fit the launcher & missiles, I'm still a bit concerned. 

Guy: Brian's M110 build is certainly tall but I doubt that weight would be a worry. As you said, "a big chunk of steel has been removed". And the barrel of that M115 piece alone weighed 4.6 tons.

Does anyone have a weight for the Sea Wolf GWS-25 sextuple launcher?

[Kerick]

One thing I see is the height. I don't see that fitting in a C-5. The Army is really picky about that. It looks like the missile boxes are stacked somehow. Perhaps they can be removed from the launcher? The center rack is probably a different story. Maybe it can be dismantled and reassembled on arrival. Definitely an interesting idea.

[Jeffry Fontaine]

A reduction in height can be achieved by removing a portion of the disk from the launcher base leaving just the flat-horizontal portion of the disk attached to the launcher post/stem that holds the missiles.  It should still have sufficient clearance to rotate through 360° on the vehicle deck. 

[Claymore]

Nice model of the Sea Wolf launcher and I agree that the M110 hull is the way to go.

However, whilst the end product would share some similarity to the Tracked Rapier SHORAD system (not surprisingly as both Rapier and Sea Wolf share a common design architecture), there is a fundamental difference.  Tracked Rapier, like the earlier Rapier system, was designed and deployed as a self contained weapon system with all of the sensors, trackers, fire control, weapons and command guidance in a single package.  Sea Wolf, on the other hand, was designed from the start to be a naval weapon system and fully incorporated into the host ship’s systems.  The Sea Wolf’s DN181 tracker and command guidance radars sat on a separate stand alone turret (Type 910/911 in naval parlance) whilst surveillance and target acquisition functions and fire control sat with the ship’s main air search radar suite and combat centre respectively.

So, the long and short of what I am trying to say is that any land-based Sea Wolf SHORAD system would need to come with additional vehicles - probably one to carry the Type 910/911 radars and another to carry some sort of surveillance radar (possibility of these being combined). 

Nevertheless, I think the end project will be awesome and I can’t wait to see what develops!   

[Buzzbomb]

Thanks for the interest in this so far. Certainly the M107/110 hull is the way forward.
I have a slightly worse for wear M107 in a box that may get a re-use or the stash kit of the M110 that has been sitting there for a long time, dust off that and do a complete new build. TBA 
It is currently sitting on the M578 ARV hull with the Jib Turret removed.

The M110 base looks better to me, but I'm concerned about weight. Although I acknowledge that a big chunk of steel has been removed to fit the launcher & missiles, I'm still a bit concerned. 

Guy: Brian's M110 build is certainly tall but I doubt that weight would be a worry. As you said, "a big chunk of steel has been removed". And the barrel of that M115 piece alone weighed 4.6 tons.
Does anyone have a weight for the Sea Wolf GWS-25 sextuple launcher?

According to various dribbles of info around 7 Ton, give or take. So, a lot  How much of that is extra shipboard gubbins, no idea.
Height issues may be addressed by making it a quad launcher perhaps. Plus the original test was only the complete Sea Wolf kit plonked on including the entire base, that will be cut down in some way.

So, the long and short of what I am trying to say is that any land-based Sea Wolf SHORAD system would need to come with additional vehicles - probably one to carry the Type 910/911 radars and another to carry some sort of surveillance radar (possibility of these being combined). 

Yes that would be the case. I think that the Radar Vehicle Claymore built for the land based Sea Dart Launch System would be similar, so a similar sized, if not the same vehicle, with the same role.

Could be another build that gets wildly out of control or ditched if too many real world facts collide with a quick Whiffer vision.

[Claymore]

Could be another build that gets wildly out of control or ditched if too many real world facts collide with a quick Whiffer vision.

Ah, the joys of whiffery! 

[Kerick]

Could be another build that gets wildly out of control or ditched if too many real world facts collide with a quick Whiffer vision.

Ah, the joys of whiffery! 

I don’t mean to be a Debbie downer. I think you have a good start here. It’s your project, build it your way!