For the first time, Saab’s news RBS 70 NG VSHORAD was on display at AUSA which took place in Washington, D.C., earlier this week (10-12 October).
This system proved its new “all target day and night” capability in front of some 100 experts from 17 countries in early September. The highly successful live firing demonstration took place in Sweden just weeks before the official product launch at the DSEi exhibition in London.
The live firing demonstration began with an introduction to the new RBS 70 NG system. This was followed by a presentation of the Giraffe AMB multi mission radar and the accompanying C4I systems, as well as systems for signature adaptation by Barracuda.
After the presentations RBS 70 NG was put to its test, starting with target tracking against a fighter aircraft. After this, shots were fired at a small air target, a mast positioned missile target and finally an armored ground target simulating a hovering attack helicopter. BOLIDE missiles were used for the first two shots and a Mk2 missile for the last shot.
When darkness fell it was back to the test range for two night firings. The first missile was fired against a different air target and the second against an armored ground target. After each firing, the invited guests were able to inspect the targets at close range.
All five shots hit their targets and the demonstration was met with applause from a highly impressed audience.
Leif Lundin, Director of Marketing and Sales, Saab Dynamics, summed up the demonstration: "These days have been extremely rewarding for us. We have received an incredibly positive response from the visitors and have already had requests for quotations."
"The new generation of RBS 70 is meant to respond to evolving threats and to the changing requirements of our customers," said Leif. There are entirely new possibilities as a result of the features that have been added in response to customers’ requirements for increased accuracy, greater flexibility and enhanced user friendliness. The ability to engage every kind of target, both in daylight and in darkness, has been further improved with the RBS 70 NG. In addition there is a new 'integrated night capability' and the system can also be easily deployed on a range of vehicles as well as on remote-controlled installations.
The official launch of RBS 70 NG took place during the DSEi Exhibition (London, 13-16 September). Fox News named it one of the five most interesting products at DSEi.
For more information, check Al-Defaiya Issue # 5/2011
