Target tracking is done in a loop.
Commanding the motors to move the seeker to keep the target within seeker FoV is just one part of the loop.
You have to get the information/image from the sensor, process it, calculate the necessary commands.
All this is repeated many times a second. The frequency of it and the seeker FoV among other factors (such as how fast the motors can slew the seeker) determine the tracking rate.
We don’t know what bottlenecks/limits the ASRAAM tracking rate.
Is it how fast the motors can slew the seeker? (90 deg/s) or is it the other factors (sensor refresh rate + seeker FoV + processing time)?
One might say: “Why would they make a requirement for the seeker slewing rate to be 90 deg/s if it can’t track at 90 deg/s?”
But note that such slewing rate is useful even if the seeker track rate can’t match it.
For example it reduces the time needed to make off-boresight shots. (The seeker can slew to the angle commanded by plane’s FCS more quickly)
And the reason is: Target tracking involves a lot more than just driving some motors.
You need to actually find where the target is and where it’s going …
And a combination of the refresh rate of your sensor, seeker FoV and processing time determines that.
(And of course the mechanical slewing rate as well, but we are discussing whether the rest of the loop can match or exceed the 90 deg/s mechanical slewing rate limit)
The issue is, Brimstone was and is it’s intended AGM, for dealing with tanks and other vehicles, without the current limitations set by Gaijin it’s pretty clear why. Brimstone 2s at full strength would be the strongest A2G weapon by far. Let alone brimstone 3 and now spear 3
Then PW4s were mostly used for CAS in places like Libya
There just has never really been much need for a weapon system like AGM-65 or another IR guided weapon
I guess our only hope is that the Devs have a single grain of pity for us and give us 2-4 pgm-500s.
After that, maybe Germany could get the glide bomb linked above
That having been said…
If Gaijin decides the KH-38MT is fine despite only being a mockup because the KH-38ML exists and the Su-34/Su-30 require the KH-38MT for a “competitive” FnF AGM. Then the Eurofighter could get the “Typhoon AGM”. As that is a sub-variant of the ASRAAM and the EFT has no alternative FnF AGM at this time
If wikipedia’s source is to be believed, brimstone actually doesn’t use IIR as a seeker because it was determined IIR was not be good enough due to the possibility of being dazzled or decoyed.
The Brimstone operates in a radar band that has no current countermeasures as well according to a document @Gunjob posted in the past iirc.
ie: Britain leapfrogged IIR for ground attack weapons, the likelihood of ever going back is rather low, unless maybe they end up making an IIR/mmW/SAL tri-mode seeker like the Stormbreaker
Yeah, which does just make sense, especially given they were also looking for something to replace CBUs as a weapon to counter mass tank assalts / convoys as well. IIR most likely wouldnt be able to cope with doing that.
Unconfirmed reports Spear-3 is a tri-seeker, but that might also be a miss-interpretation of the “multi-mode seeker” that MBDA advertises the Spear-3 with as most of the time the US will call tri-mode seekers “multi-mode seekers” like on the JAGM-MR.
But Im not even sure IIR is really all that worth it for even the Spear-3. Not sure what it really adds over MMW other than FnF lock range?
CSIS claims its mmW/SAL, but it is possible its tri-mode and MBDA isnt ready to state it yet, seeing as SPEAR-3 and Brimstone’s datasheets are different in the Guidance section:
It doesnt say Tri-mode. Only multi-mode and how its worded, that doesnt seem to include the GPS
Spear-3 Datasheet
So its unknown whether “Multi-mode” includes IIR or not. But I just think that some news articles have perhaps just assumed “Multi-mode” means it has IIR because the Brimstone with MMW + SAL are not listed as “multi-mode” or because others like the JAGM-MR have all 3 and is listed as “multi-mode”
JAGM-MR Datasheet
But we’ll ultimately just have to wait and see, the fact they have changed from MMW+SAL to Multi-mode is interesting
Yeah it could be. Storm Shadow has proven its worth recently, so as a “mini-cruise missile” having that IIR terminal guidance could be a sought after feature for the Spear-3. Though that wouldnt benefit us in War Thunder
