Vaccari Passero
| Areiva Tridente Cuervo-C | |
|---|---|
| Type | Surface-to-air missile |
| Place of origin |  Temuair |
| Service history | |
| In service | 1958 - 1986 |
| Used by | Imperial Air Force of Temuair |
| Production history | |
| Designed | 1958 |
| Manufacturer | Areiva |
| Unit cost | between |
| Produced | 1958 - 1972 |
| Specifications | |
| Weight | missile: 400 kg (880 lbs) |
| Length | 6 m (19.8 ft) |
| Diameter | 40 cm (15.7 in) |
| Warhead | 40kg warhead |
| Wingspan | 134 cm (53 in) |
Operational range | 30,000 m (18.6 mi) |
| Flight ceiling | 9,000 m (29,930 ft) |
| Speed | Mach 2.4 (800m/s) |
Guidance system | Beam riding |
The Areiva Tridente, sometimes referred to as the Cuervo-C, is a surface to air missile system developed by Areiva of Temuair for the Imperial Air Force of Temuair and the international commercial market. It is a development of the earlier Areiva Cuervo missile and served as the backbone of the Imperial Air Force's air defense's into the 1980's when it was replaced fully by the Areiva Búho.
History and design
The Areiva Tridente was a liquid-fueled rocket-powered missile, guided to its target by riding a radar beam. The missile body was made of wrapped tubing and sheet with Araldite bonding while the wings were of sandwich construction.
Targeting was by search radar and beam transmitter with targets tracked by a search radar until a beam riding transmitter locked on, at which point the missile could be fired, riding the beam until impact, proximity fuze or radio signal detonation. Launchers, slaved to the beam transmitter could launch missiles at any angle form 10° to 90° at a sustained rate of fire of up to two launches per minute. Control of the missiles was by vectoring rocket motor combustion chamber at launch and controllable rear fins at higher speeds. The complete system included a battery command post, target tracking radar, guidance beam transmitter and six twin railed trainable launchers and four diesel generator units. The components were carried on single-axle trailers apart from the diesel generators that were built on two-axle trailers. The entire system, including the launchers, was readily transportable to new locations with mobility claimed to be similar to that of a heavy anti-aircraft gun system.