Denel A-Darter (V3E) - Waiter! Waiter! More G's please!

Surbaissemaxxing · September 8, 2025, 9:38pm

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Suggestion No.89

G’day lads. I want to suggest a very advanced South African and Brazilian IIR SRAAM for the future, namely the A-Darter (Agile Darter), which can go up to 100G :)

Description:

Spoiler

The A-Darter is a 5th gen SRAAM (short-range air to air missile) jointly developed by South Africa’s Denel Dynamics and Brazilian defense companies, including SIATT and Avibras. Meant for high agility and performance in close range aerial combat, it features dual-color infrared homing (IIR) guidance and advanced ECCM that make it highly resistant to flares and jamming. The missile supports both Lock On Before Launch (LOBL) and Lock On After Launch (LOAL) modes, giving it flexible targeting even beyond the seeker’s initial range. Along with HMD’s, it gives the opportunity pilots to simply look at the target and fire. Its thrust vector control, as well with it’s ±90° look angle, allows it to perform extreme maneuvers, with up to 100G turns during motor burn, and can go up to 50G without motor burn, making it one of the most manouverable missiles out there.

History:

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The A-Darter traces back to the late 1980s, when combat experience showed limitations in South Africa’s existing V3B, V3C, and Matra Magic missiles. A new threat, namely the R-73 equipped MiG-29 started to form as a regional threat, which made the South African Air Force to define requirements for a new dogfight missile (A-Darter) and a BVR missile (R-Darter).

^ Early A-Darter

By 1995, project definition began under Kentron (later Denel Dynamics), who would create this 5th gen IIR missile. Early development was government-funded but not formally ordered by the SAAF. The missile featured (as already mentioned) a dual-color imaging infrared seeker, ±90° look angle, and was designed for use with the HMS on Cheetah C fighters. Initial unguided airframe tests were conducted in 1997-1998, followed by captive seeker trials in 1999 and caged seeker tests in 2000-2001 using a Cheetah D testbed.

Despite being promising, the program faced trouble due to limited domestic demand and the possibility of other alternatives for the SAAF’s new Gripen fleet. A formal Request for Proposals (RFP) planned for 2001 was delayed, and by 2002, the missile remained in technical development, with guided flight tests anticipated soon.

In 2006, Brazil joined the program after three years of negotiation, investing 52 million dollars and launching Project Assegai. Brazilian firms Mectron (now SIATT), Avibras, and Opto Eletrônica partnered with Denel, accelerating development. Ground seeker tests and trajectory trials were completed in early 2010, and the first successful in-flight launch from a Gripen occurred on June 17, 2010.

From 2012 to 2015, qualification firings and integration efforts continued. Brazil commissioned a dedicated factory in São José dos Campos in December 2012. In March 2015, Denel signed a production contract with the SAAF for 41 operational missiles, 21 trainer variants, and 8 practice variants, with deliveries originally scheduled by October 2017.

However, production delays followed due to liquidity issues and staff resignations at Denel. Final testing was completed in November 2019, and practice missiles were delivered in October 2024, with operational missiles expected by March or April 2025. This however ended up also being delayed, and it’s now planned for the first 4 operational A-Darters to be delivered in the current month of July 2025, with 37 more to follow. Once it is in South African service, it will be named V3E.

~~I guess despite it being called Agile Darter, it’s not so agile with production~~

Specifications:

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The A-Darter a length of 2980mm and a diameter of 166mm. It weights around 93kg (it is 93kg today, however earlier on it was a few kg lighter). It uses a two color thermal imaging (IIR) seeker with advanced multi mode ECCM, giving it a incredibly low chance to lose lock. It has a laser proximity fuse. It features LOBL and LOAL for ranges beyond the seekers range. It has a high thrust motor, with it (allegedly) having around 6 seconds burn time. During that burn time (and also thanks to it’s ±90° seeker look angle), it can go up to 100G thanks to it’s TVC system, and once that burner goes off, it can still go up to 50G. This is achieved with a track rate of about 120° per second. Most sources say it has a 10km range, however this is most likely the effective killing range, as it could have additional excess range of up to 20km. It can be also attached on LAU-7 rails, so the same rails Sidewinders use.