Tracked Rapier Head-On
Rapier is a British surface-to-air missile (SAM) developed for the British Army and RAF. Entering service in 1971, it eventually replaced all other AA weapons in Army service. As the expected air threat moved from medium-altitude strategic missions to low-altitude strikes, the fast reaction time and high manoeuvrability of the Rapier made it more formidable. Following various upgrades, it remained the UK's primary air-defence weapon until it began to be replaced by the new, longer-range Sky Sabre system in 2021; it remains in service with eight foreign customers.
With sales to the then-Imperial Iranian Armed Forces came an additional requirement for a mobile version of Rapier. BAC responded by adapting the Rapier system to fit on the M548, a cargo-carrier version of the ubiquitous M113 APC. Development started in 1974 as Tracked Rapier, but had not yet been delivered when the Shah fell from power in 1978. The vehicles were later purchased by the British Army.
The first public showing of Tracked Rapier was at the 1977 Paris Air Show, as a static display unit. The first Tracked Rapiers entered service with 11 (Sphinx) Air Defence Battery, of 22 Air Defence Regiment, Royal Artillery in 1983 in Napier Barracks near Dortmund.
The conversion was relatively simple; the launch unit was placed on the extreme rear of the cargo platform at the rear of the M548 carrier, and the tracking system placed inside the cabin at the front of the vehicle, projecting through the roof of one of the turret bustles. The optical tracker was operated from the left side of the crew cabin, while on the right were the driver and tactical controller. The crew cabin was quite cramped as a result, with the three crewmembers and all of the equipment stuffed into an area originally intended for two men. From moving to firing took only 30 seconds, a tremendous improvement over Towed Rapier, which required at least 15 minutes to prepare. The biggest difference between towed and tracked Rapier was that Tracked Rapier's launcher had eight missile rails compared with the four of the towed system. Unfortunately the equipment also greatly slowed the vehicle, with cross-country performance reduced to about 15 km/h.
There was no room for the Blindfire radar on a single M548, so this was instead towed or carried on a separate M548. Feeding data to the control system in the firing unit thus required more set-up time to connect the two vehicles. With less internal hardware, the support vehicle was also tasked with carrying field kits, rations and water.
After entering service the Tracked Rapiers were upgraded several times to follow the upgrades being introduced to all Rapier systems. The latest version included a new helmet-mounted sight that allowed the tactical controller to quickly slew the tracker onto the target while standing out of the other roof-mounted turret bustle.
During the 1990-91 Gulf War, 12 and 16 Regiment Royal Artillery tracked batteries, combined to provide Tracked Rapier support to deployed armoured regiments. Tracked Rapier was retired in the early 1990s. It has since been replaced in the mobile role by Starstreak missile launchers mounted on the Alvis Stormer.
49KB47 seen above in 2009 was part of a mobile display of vehicles at the Tank Museum at Bovington. It remains in the Museum's Reserve Collection.
Tracked Rapier Head-On
Rapier is a British surface-to-air missile (SAM) developed for the British Army and RAF. Entering service in 1971, it eventually replaced all other AA weapons in Army service. As the expected air threat moved from medium-altitude strategic missions to low-altitude strikes, the fast reaction time and high manoeuvrability of the Rapier made it more formidable. Following various upgrades, it remained the UK's primary air-defence weapon until it began to be replaced by the new, longer-range Sky Sabre system in 2021; it remains in service with eight foreign customers.
With sales to the then-Imperial Iranian Armed Forces came an additional requirement for a mobile version of Rapier. BAC responded by adapting the Rapier system to fit on the M548, a cargo-carrier version of the ubiquitous M113 APC. Development started in 1974 as Tracked Rapier, but had not yet been delivered when the Shah fell from power in 1978. The vehicles were later purchased by the British Army.
The first public showing of Tracked Rapier was at the 1977 Paris Air Show, as a static display unit. The first Tracked Rapiers entered service with 11 (Sphinx) Air Defence Battery, of 22 Air Defence Regiment, Royal Artillery in 1983 in Napier Barracks near Dortmund.
The conversion was relatively simple; the launch unit was placed on the extreme rear of the cargo platform at the rear of the M548 carrier, and the tracking system placed inside the cabin at the front of the vehicle, projecting through the roof of one of the turret bustles. The optical tracker was operated from the left side of the crew cabin, while on the right were the driver and tactical controller. The crew cabin was quite cramped as a result, with the three crewmembers and all of the equipment stuffed into an area originally intended for two men. From moving to firing took only 30 seconds, a tremendous improvement over Towed Rapier, which required at least 15 minutes to prepare. The biggest difference between towed and tracked Rapier was that Tracked Rapier's launcher had eight missile rails compared with the four of the towed system. Unfortunately the equipment also greatly slowed the vehicle, with cross-country performance reduced to about 15 km/h.
There was no room for the Blindfire radar on a single M548, so this was instead towed or carried on a separate M548. Feeding data to the control system in the firing unit thus required more set-up time to connect the two vehicles. With less internal hardware, the support vehicle was also tasked with carrying field kits, rations and water.
After entering service the Tracked Rapiers were upgraded several times to follow the upgrades being introduced to all Rapier systems. The latest version included a new helmet-mounted sight that allowed the tactical controller to quickly slew the tracker onto the target while standing out of the other roof-mounted turret bustle.
During the 1990-91 Gulf War, 12 and 16 Regiment Royal Artillery tracked batteries, combined to provide Tracked Rapier support to deployed armoured regiments. Tracked Rapier was retired in the early 1990s. It has since been replaced in the mobile role by Starstreak missile launchers mounted on the Alvis Stormer.
49KB47 seen above in 2009 was part of a mobile display of vehicles at the Tank Museum at Bovington. It remains in the Museum's Reserve Collection.