MIM-23 Hawk

PAR Pulse Acquisition Radar
The pulse acquisition radar is a long range, high altitude search radar.

* AN/MPQ-35 (Basic Hawk)The search radar used with the basic HAWK system, with a radar pulse power of 450 kW and a pulse length of 3 µs, a Pulse Repetition Frequency of 800 and 667 Hz alternately. The radar operates in the 1.25 to 1.35 GHz range. The antenna is a 6.7 × 1.4 m elliptical reflector of open lattice construction, mounted on a small two-wheeled trailer. Rotation rate is 20 rpm, the BCC - Battery Control Central and the CWAR are synchronized by the PAR revolutions and the PAR system trigger.

* AN/MPQ-50 (Improved Hawk to Phase III)Introduced with the I-HAWK system, the improved-PAR. The system introduces a digital MTI (Moving Target Indicator) that helps separate targets from ground clutter. It operates in the 500 to 1,000 MHz (C-band) frequency range with a peak operating power of 1,000 watts.
* Range (source "Janes"):
** 104 km (high PRF) to 96 km (low PRF) versus 3 m² target.
** 98 km (high PRF) to 90 km (low PRF) versus 2.4 m² target.
** 79 km (high PRF) to 72 km (low PRF) versus 1 m² target.

* AN/MPQ-64 "Sentinel" (Hawk XXI)A X-Band 3D range-gated doppler radar system used with the HAWK XXI system. It replaces both the CWAR and PAR components of the HAWK system. MPQ-64 "Sentinel" provides coverage out to a range of 75 km, rotating at 30 rpm. The system has a mean time between failure of around 600 hours, and can track at least 60 targets at once. It can elevate up to +55 degrees and depress to -10 degrees. [http://www.raytheon.com/products/stellent/groups/public/documents/content/cms01_050670.pdf]

CWAR Continuous Wave Acquisition Radar
This X Band Continuous wave system is used to detect targets. The unit comes mounted on its own mobile trailer. The unit acquires targets through 360 degrees of azimuth while providing target radial speed and raw range data.

* AN/MPQ-34 (Basic Hawk)MPQ-34 Hawk CW Acquisition radar with a power rating of 200 W and a frequency of 10 GHz (X-Band) Built by Raytheon. Replaced by MPQ-48.

* AN/MPQ-48 (Improved Hawk) The Improved Hawk version of the CW acquisition radar doubled the output power and improved the detection ranges:
* Range (source "Janes"):
** 69 km (CW) to 63 km (FM) versus 3 m² target.
** 65 km (CW) to 60 km (FM) versus 2.4 m² target.
** 52 km (CW) to 48 km (FM) versus 1 m² target.

* AN/MPQ-55 (Phase I - Phase II)Hawk Improved Continuous Wave Acquisition Radar or ICWAR. The output power is doubled to 400W, this increases the detection range to around 70 km. The radar operates in the 10-20 GHz (J-band). Other features include FM ranging and BITE (Built in test equipment). Frequency modulation is applied to the broadcast on alternate scans of the ICWAR to obtain range information.

* AN/MPQ-62 (Phase III)Some changes to the signal processing allow the radar to determine the targets' range and speed in a single scan. A digital DSP system is added which allows a lot of the processing work to be done on the radar directly and forwarded directly via a serial digital link to the PCP/BCP.

HPI High Power Illuminator
The early AN/MPQ-46 High Power Illuminator (HPI) radars had only the two large dish-type antennas side by side, one to transmit and one to receive. The HPI automatically acquires and tracks designated targets in azimuth, elevation and range. It also serves as an interface unit supplying azimuth and elevation launch angles computed by the Automatic Data Processor (ADP) in the Information Coordination Centre (ICC) to the IBCC or the Improved Platoon Command Post (IPCP) for up to three launchers. The HPI J-band energy reflected from the target is also received by the HAWK missile. These returns are compared with the missile reference signal being transmitted directly to the missile by the HPI. Target tracking is continued throughout the missile's flight. After the missile intercepts the target the HPI Doppler data is used for kill evaluation. The HPI receives target designations from one or both surveillance radars via the Battery Control Centre (BCC) and automatically searches a given sector for a rapid target lock on. The HPI incorporates ECCM and BITE.

* AN/MPQ-33/39 (Basic Hawk)This X Band CW System is used to illuminate targets in the Hawk Missile Battery. The unit comes mounted on its own mobile trailer. Unit automatically acquires and tracks designated targets in azimuth elevation and range rate. The system has an output power of around 125 W operating in the 10-10.25 GHz band. MPQ-39 was an upgraded version of the MPQ-33.

* AN/MPQ-46 (Improved Hawk - Phase I)The radar operates in the 10-20 GHz (J-band) region. Many of the electron tube components in earlier radars are replaced with solid-state technology.
* Range (source "Janes"):
** 99 km (high PRF) to 93 km (low PRF) versus 3 m² target.
** 93 km (high PRF) to 89 km (low PRF) versus 2.4 m² target.
** 75 km (high PRF) to 72 km (low PRF) versus 1 m² target.

* AN/MPQ-57 (Phase II) The majority of the remaining tube electronics are upgraded to solid state. Also, an electro-optical tracking system, the daytime only OD-179/TVY TAS (Tracking Adjunct System) is added for operation in a high ECM environement. The TAS was developed from the US Air Forces TISEO (Target Identification System, Electro-Optical) by Northrop. It consists of a video camera with a x10 zoom lense. The I-TAS which was field tested in 1992 added an Infra Red capability for night operation as well as automatic target detection and tracking.

:* HEOS Germany, Netherlands and Norway modified their HAWK systems with an alternative IR acquisition and tracking system known as the HAWK Electro-Optical Sensor (HEOS) in place of the TAS. HEOS operates in the 8 to 11 µm band and is used to supplement the HPI to acquire and track targets before missile launch.

* AN/MPQ-61 (Phase III)Upgraded with the addition of the LASHE (Low-Altitude Simutaneous Hawk Engagement) system, which allows the HAWK to engage multiple low level targets by employing a fan beam antenna to provide a wide-angle, low-altitude illumination pattern to allow multiple engagements against saturation raids. This antenna is rectangular. This allows up to 12 targets to be engaged at once. There is also TV/IR optic system for passive missile guidance.

ROR Range Only Radar
Pulse radar that automatically comes into operation if the HPIR radar cannot determine the range, typically because of jamming. The ROR is difficult to jam because it operates only briefly during the engagement, and only in the presence of jamming.
* AN/MPQ-37 (Basic Hawk)
* AN/MPQ-51 (Improved Hawk - Phase II)A Ku Band (Freq: 15.5-17.5 GHz) pulse radar, the power output was 120 kW. Pulse length 0.6 µs at a pulse repetition frequency of 1600 Hz. Antenna: 4 foot (1.22 m) dish.
* Range
** 83 km versus 3 m² target.
** 78 km versus 2.4 m² target.
** 63 km versus 1 m² target.

FDC (HAWK Phase III and HAWK XXI) - Fire Distribution Center. C4I unit, enabling modern command, control, communications and Force Operation. Color displays with 3D map overlays enhance the situation awareness. Instriduces the real-time exchange of air picture and commands between the HAWK units. Make-ready capability for SL-AMRAAM and SHORAD/vSHORAD systems.

Country specific modifications

* IsraelThe Israelis have upgraded the Phase 2 standard with the addition of a Super Eye electro-optical TV system for detection of aircraft at 30 to 40 km and identification at 17 to 25 km. They have also modified their system for engagements at altitudes up to 24,000 m.

* Sparrow HAWKA composite system firing AIM-7 Sparrow missiles from a modified 8 round launcher. The system was demonstrated at the China lake weapons test site in 1985. There are currently no users of the system.

* HAWK AMRAAMAt "Safe Air 95" AMRAAM missiles were demonstrated being fired from a modified M192 missile launcher. The normal battery radar is used for the engagement, with the missile's own radar used for terminal homing. Raytheon and Kongsberg are offering this system as an upgrade to the existing HAWK system. This proposal is aimed particularly at HAWK operating countries that also have AIM-120 AMRAAM in their inventory. Norway is currently operating this type of system as NASAMS.

The NASAMS system is also employed as anti-air protection for the White House [http://www.orapp.no/norske_vap/] /

* IranThe Islamic Republic of Iran Air Force is reported to have experimented with a number of MIM-23 HAWK missiles for carriage on F-14 Tomcat fighters in the air-to-air role under a program known as SKY HAWK. Iran has also modified its ground-based HAWK systems for carriage on a convoy of 8×8 wheeled vehicles and adapted the launchers to carry Standard RIM-66 or AGM-78 missiles with two Standard missiles per launcher.

* Norway Norway has developed its own HAWK upgrade scheme known as the Norwegian Adapted HAWK (NOAH) which involves the lease of I-HAWK launchers, HPI radars and missile loaders from the USA and their integration with Hughes (now Raytheon) Kongsberg Acquisition Radar and Control Systems. The NOAH system became operational in 1988. It was replaced by NASAMS in the period 1995-1998.

* ACWARFuture developments were expected to include the introduction of an Agile CW Acquisition Radar (ACWAR), which is an evolution of the HAWK CW radar technology. It would perform full 3-D target acquisition over a 360° azimuth sector and large elevation angles. The ACWAR programme was initiated to meet increasingly severe tactical air defence requirements and the equipment is being designed for operation of HAWK in the late 1990s and beyond. However, the ACWAR programme was terminated in 1993.

History

* 1962 October to November the Cuban Missile Crisis necessitates a request for a total of 304 missiles to be delivered at an average turnaround of 3 days per missile.
* 1965 February to March the United States Marine Corps gets interested in the HAWK, placing them at Da Nang and Hill 327, which was west of Da Nang airbase. This was both the first USMC deployment of the HAWK, and also the first deployment of the HAWK in Vietnam.
* 1965 March the first HAWK battalion was deployed to Israel.
* 1967 June 5 In an unusual incident an Israeli MIM-23A shot down a damaged Israeli Dassault MD.450 Ouragan that was in danger of crashing into the Negev Nuclear Research Center near Dimona, the first combat firing of the HAWK, the first combat kill attributed to the HAWK system [http://www.redstone.army.mil/history/systems/HAWK.html] .
* 1969 March 21 Before noon, a new HAWK battery, which was deployed at Baluza, north of the town of Kantara in the Sinai region detected an Egyptian MiG-21 aircraft which took off from Port-said airport. The controller, Yair Tamir, tracked the aircraft on the radar, in its flight from north to south along the Suez canal, and when the MiG-21 broke to a course heading towards the HAWK battery, a missile was launched at it, which successfully destroyed the aircraft while it was flying at an altitude of 6,700 m. [http://www.israeli-weapons.com/weapons/missile_systems/surface_missiles/hawk/Hawk.htm] . During the War of Attrition, HAWK batteries had shot down between 8 and 12 aircraft [http://www.acig.org/artman/publish/article_55.shtml] ; Janes reports 12 kills as 1 Il-28, 4 Su-7, 4 MiG-17 and 3 MiG-21.
* 1972 May, Improved HAWK support equipment was first deployed to Germany.
* 1973 October Yom Kippur war 75 Israeli missiles were fired downing between 12 and 24 aircraft and one oil well on fire in Abu-Rodes oil field.Fact|date=February 2007
* 1977 Conversion of Basic Hawk to Improved Hawk was completed by all US Army units in Europe and Korea by the end of the year.
* 1980s
** Kuwait, 1 kill of an Iranian F-5 during the Iran–Iraq War.
** Iran, at least 40 Iraqi aircraft destroyed during the Iran–Iraq War.
* 1985 March DA and the Office of the Secretary of Defense (OSD) approved the development of an anti-tactical missile (ATM) mission for HAWK.
* 1987 September 7, French Army, 403rd RAA, in Chad, shoot down a Libyan Tu-22B on a bombing mission with an MIM-23B during the Chadian-Libyan war. The particularity of this event is with its geographical situation, a few miles from a border. The attack began outside the Chadian territory proper and left the French with only a very small window of opportunity to shoot the intruder. The interception took place almost at the vertical of the battery. Debris and unexploded bombs from the Tu-22 rained over the position and injured no one.
* 1990 August 2, HAWK missiles defending Kuwait against the Iraqi invasion in August 1990 are claimed to have shot down up to 14 Iraqi aircraft. Only two kills have been verified a MiG-23BN and a Su-22. Iraqi forces captured four or five Kuwaiti HAWK batteries.

* A SAFE AIR demonstration was conducted at WSMR to display the effectiveness and versatility of several existing and new United States Army weapon systems in providing air and surface defense. Emphasis was placed on defeating cruise missiles and unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs). The HAWK system successfully engaged two surrogate cruise missiles, one UAV, and one fixed wing drone.

* The United States Marine Corps successfully tested its HAWK Mobility and theater missile defense (TMD) software upgrades at White Sands Missile Range. HAWK acquired the three LANCE targets, two of which were successfully engaged and destroyed. This was the first time the entire USMC ATBM system had been tested.

Operators

* Bahrain
* Belgium
* Denmark
* Egypt,
* France
* Germany
* Greece
* Indonesia
* Iran
* Israel
* Italy
* Japan
* Jordan
* South Korea
* Kuwait
* The Netherlands
* Norway - (phased out in 1998)
* Saudi Arabia
* Singapore
* Spain
* Sweden
* Republic of China (Taiwan)
* Turkey
* UAE
* USA

Phase IIThese countries have implemented Phase 1 and Phase 2 improvements.

* Belgium - (phased out and sold to Turkey)
* Denmark - (Phased out)
* France
* Germany - (phased out in 2005)
* Greece
* Indonesia
* Italy
* The Netherlands
* USA

Phase III

* Albania - acquired from Turkey & Germany [http://www.air.mil.al/materiali.php?id=34] (see discussion)
* Egypt
* Greece
* Israel
* Italy
* The Netherlands – (Phased out and sold to Romania)
* Saudi Arabia
* Singapore
* Spain
* Sweden
* Republic of China (Taiwan)
* UAE
* US Marine Corps

HAWK XXI
* Turkey
* Romanian Air Force - ex Dutch [ [http://www.roaf.ro/en/dotare/hawk_en.php Surface to air missiles inventory on the Romanian Air Force Official Site] , accesed 18th June 2007.]

ee also

* Surface-to-air missile
* SA-3 Goa Soviet low-altitude missile system
* SA-6 Gainful advanced Soviet mobile low-altitude missile system

References

* Jane's Land-Based Air Defence 2005-2006, ISBN 0-7106-2697-5

External links

* [http://www.raytheon.com/products/hawk/ Raytheon's HAWK system page]
* [http://www.designation-systems.net/dusrm/m-23.html Designation-Systems.net Article on the hawk]
* http://www.madracki.com/usarmyhawk/generalorders.html
* [http://www.fas.org/spp/starwars/program/hawk.htm FAS.org page on the HAWK system.]
* [http://www.new-factoria.ru/missile/wobb/ihawk/ihawk.shtml HAWK page in Russian.]
* [http://www.waronline.org/IDF/Articles/PVO/hawk.htm Israeli use of the HAWK system.] ru icon
* [http://www.alpha-section-present.de German HAWK Community]