Vaccari Falco
| Vaccari Falco | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Type | Surface-to-air missile |
| Place of origin |  Luminerra |
| Service history | |
| In service | 1953 - 1975 |
| Used by | Lumenic Air Force |
| Production history | |
| Designed | 1946 - 1953 |
| Manufacturer | Vaccari |
| Produced | 1953 - 1960 |
| Variants | Vaccari Passero |
| Specifications | |
| Weight | 400 kg (880 lbs) |
| Diameter | 40 cm (15 in) |
| Warhead | 20 kg (44 lb) high-explosive |
| Wingspan | 140 cm (55 in) |
Operational range | 20 km (12.5 miles) |
| Flight ceiling | 20000 m (66000 ft) |
| Speed | Mach 1.8 |
Guidance system | Beam riding |
The Vaccari Falco was one of the first surface to air missile systems developed, with Luminerra based Vaccari beginning design for the missile in 1946. It was used by the Lumenic Legion, most notably the Lumenic Air Force from 1953 through 1975, when it was replaced by an upgraded version, the Vaccari Passero.
History
As aviation technology progressed, see the introduction of high altitude bombers and jet aircraft and their became more common in national air forces, most of the worlds military strategists concluded that anti-aircraft artillery was practically useless against high-flying targets, and would become completely so with the introduction of jet engines. Several nation, including Luminerra, began guided missile efforts to fill this role, hoping to replace heavy anti-aircraft artillery.
The Falco went through a rapid development phase, and was upgraded several time sin rapid succession during its service life. It was accepted into service in 1953, and was offered for commercial export starting with the Cuervo-C, also known as the Vaccari Passero, model in 1958.
Design
The Vaccari Falco was long, thin missile with a very high fineness ratio, similar to modern supersonic aircraft. It mounted four almost rectangular cropped-delta wings at the fuselage midpoint, and used thrust vectoring for directional control. Power was provided by a liquid fuel rocket engine burning nitric acid and kerosene as fuel, with the fuel driven into the engine via nitrogen gas pressurization.
Guidance was provided by a radar system and beam riding receivers on the missile. Beam riding systems are the simplest systems to implement, as the ground-based system can consist solely of a tracking radar. The target is first picked up on the radar system and "locked on". The missile is launched directly into the path of the radar, allowing receivers at the back of the missile to hear the radar signal and keep itself centered in the beam. The missile then flies directly at the target as long as the radar remains locked on. One disadvantage of this approach is that the radar signal is cone-shaped, so the missile becomes increasingly inaccurate as it flies away from the radar. The Falco solved this by using a second radio signal for beam riding, allowing the tracking radar to have a wider search angle without effecting the accuracy of the missile. Another disadvantage of any beam riding system is that it is not possible to "lead" the target, and it is thus suitable only for slow targets or very short distances.
The entire launcher system was based on two carriages adapted from heavy antiaircraft artillery pieces being retied from service. One carriage held the radar and guidance radio antenna on a rotating mount, and the other held the missile in a trapeze-like framework of some complexity. Follow-on versions used similar guidance systems, and varied more widely in the mounting of the missile. Dual mountings were common, and the launchers were generally much less complex than the original Falco version. Mounted on the trailer-base, the target tracking and illumination radar has a three-axis alignment system for the tracking antenna and the guiding beacon, it can precisely track overhead targets. The missile guides itself to the center of guiding beam. It was manufactured by Vaccari Electronics.