From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia Medium Extended Air Defense System
Medium Extended Air Defense System
MEADS)
Medium Extended Air Defense System (MEADS is a mili- diately begin operations. More importantly, its open ar-
tary project intended to replace the aging Patriot missile chitecture will provide for 21st century air and missile
system through a NATO-managed development. The defense system-of-system integration capabilities that
USA, Germany and Italy are contributing toward the pro- allow operational mission-tailoring for homeland de-
ject. France, though initially in the project, withdrew fense or defense of maneuver forces. MEADS will also
some time ago. provide greater firepower with less manpower than cur-
rent systems, producing dramatic operation and support
Description cost savings."[1]
In Germany the PAC-3 missile will also be supple-
Under development by Germany, Italy and the United mented by IRIS-T SL as secondary missile for ground-
States, MEADS is a mobile air defense system designed based medium range air defence. It is based on the very
to replace Patriot systems in the United States and Ger- successful IRIS-T air-to-air missile. The shorter range
many and Nike Hercules systems in Italy. It also meets IRIS-T SLS system uses unmodified IRIS-T air-to-air mis-
the requirements of Germany’s “capabilities oriented” siles launched from standard LAU-7 aircraft launchers
air defense concept. MEADS incorporates the Lockheed four of which are mounted onto an all-terrain launch
Martin hit-to-kill PAC-3 Missile Segment Enhancement vehicle while the medium-range IRIS-T SL missile is
(MSE) missile in a system including all-round surveil- equipped with an enlarged rocket motor, datalink and a
lance and fire control sensors, netted-distributed battle jettisonable drag-reducing nosecone.
management/communication centers and the launchers MEADS International is a multinational joint venture
themselves. The system is designed to protect maneu- headquartered in Orlando, FL. Its participating compa-
vering forces and fixed locations against tactical ballistic nies are MBDA Italia, Lenkflugkörpersysteme (LFK) in
missiles, cruise missiles, unmanned aerial vehicles and Germany and Lockheed Martin in the United States. To-
aircraft. gether, these companies have formed an international
engineering team in Orlando to develop systems and
technologies for the MEADS program. During the MEADS
Design and Development Phase, MEADS International
will finalize designs for equipment and complete their in-
tegration into the 21st century air and missile defense
system. The system’s six major equipment items are as
follows: Multifunction Fire Control Radar (MFCR); Sur-
veillance Radar (SR); Battle Management, Command,
Control, Communications, Computers and Intelligence
(BMC4I); Certified Missile Round (PAC-3 missile and can-
ister); Launcher; and Reloader. The United States funds
approximately 58 percent of the MEADS program and
European partners Germany and Italy provide approxi-
mately 25 percent and 17 percent respectively.
In May 2005, MEADS International (MI) signed a de-
finitized contract valued at $2 billion plus €1.4 billion for
MEADS design and development. In December 2007, the
NATO MEADS Management Agency awarded a $66 mil-
IRIS-T SL based on the IRIS-T air-to-air missile lion contract to incorporate the Lockheed Martin PAC-3
Missile Segment Enhancement (MSE) Missile as the base-
According to its developers, "MEADS is to provide ca- line interceptor for the tri-national program. The new in-
pabilities beyond any other fielded or planned air and terceptor increases the system’s range and lethality over
missile defense system. It is to be easily deployed to a the baseline PAC-3 Missile, which was selected as the pri-
theater of operations and once there, will keep pace with mary missile for MEADS when the design and develop-
fast-moving maneuver forces. When completed, MEADS ment program began.
will be the only air and missile defense system able to roll Also in December 2007, the MEADS program complet-
off tactical transports with the troops and almost imme- ed its System Preliminary Design Review (PDR), a major
1
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia Medium Extended Air Defense System
announcement from the United States. It is not yet deter-
mined if funding for procurement will follow.[2]
See also
• LFK NG - the new air defence missile of the German
Army
• MANTIS - the very short-range protection system of
the German Army within the "SysFla" program.
• NASAMS - air defence system using the AIM-120
AMRAAM, developed by Norway.
References
[1] http://www.meads-amd.com/index.php/about-
meads/
[2] "Beyond Patriot? The Multinational MEADS Air
Defense Program". Defense Industry Daily. 16
February 2011.
http://www.defenseindustrydaily.com/34b-
development-contract-signed-for-meads-0639/
#more-639. Retrieved 23 February 2011.
External links
• Lockheed Martin MEADS Website
• MEADS International, Inc. - ’Official website’
• Some further details on the project
IRIS-T SL launch system
• IRIS-T SL/SLS - further information on the IRIS-T SL/
SLS missile by German manufacturer Diehl BGT.
progress milestone for the tri-national program. System • [1] (Sascha Lange:“Partial Capability Loss through
Critical Design Review (CDR) is scheduled for 2010, lead- MEADS”. SWP Comments, German Institute for
ing to initial MEADS flight tests in 2011. International and Security Affairs of the Stiftung
In early 2011, it was announced that Germany will on- Wissenschaft und Politik (SWP), March 2005.)
ly fund the system up to development, following a similar
Retrieved from "http://en.wikipedia.org/w/in-
dex.php?title=Medium_Extended_Air_Defense_System&oldid=473530310"
Categories:
• Modern surface-to-air missiles
• Surface-to-air missiles of Germany
• Luftwaffe guided missiles
• Proposed weapons of the United States
• Modern weapons of Germany
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