M48 / MIM-72 Chaparral - Sidewinders from the ground

[Iron_physik 3,485]

Hello all!

 

today I wanted to suggest the M48 Chaparral Intercept-Aerial Guided Missile System.

it is a SAM vehicle based on the M548 cargo carrier (which is based on the M113) that uses a variant of the sidewinder missile.

 

 

The M48 Chaparral is a self-propelled short-ranged SAM system, using a missile based on the AIM-9 sidewinder.

It was the only truly mobile weapon of this class ever fielded by the US military (as the Avenger, LAV-AD, and Linebacker vehicles can only fight in a stationary position).

 

The US Army's 1959 FAAD (Forward Area Air Defense) program was originally built around the MIM-46 Mauler SAM, but the Mauler had multiple issues, so a replacement was needed. This replacement was the subsequent IFAAD (Interim Forward Area Air Defense) program which was initiated in 1963, with the intent to create a "stop-gap" for the Mauler until its flaws could be corrected. It was decided to use a variant of the AIM-9 sidewinder as the basis of the system.

 

the result was developed in 1967 and consisted of four basic components; the MIM-72 Missile, the M54 launcher and the M730 vehicle (a derivative of the M548 cargo carrier)

this whole system was also known as the M48 Fire unit.

after approval and procurement by the US Army, the first Chaparral battalion was fielded in 1969.

in the 1980s they where slowly transferred to the US national guard and where finally retired in 1998.

some other nations still use the M48 today though.

 

 

 

 

 

MIM-72 missile.

 

The MIM-72 Chaparral is a ground-launched derivative of the AIM-9 Sidewinder air-to-air missile. Development began in 1963 with U.S. Army MICOM (Missile Command) studies to convert the Navy's AIM-9D missile for surface-to-air use. In 1965, the studies had shown that the conversion was feasible, and the Chaparral program was started as a short-term replacement for the cancelled MIM-46 Mauler. In 1966, development of the AN/MPQ-49 Forward Area Alerting Radar (FAAR), which was to provide Chaparral (and other air-defense systems) with target information, was approved. In 1967, the first XMIM-72A missiles were delivered to the U.S. Army, and in May 1969 the first Chaparral battalion was activated.

 

 

 

variants:

 

• MIM-72A Chaparral Original production missile.
  this missile was pretty much just a AIM-9D with 2 rollerons removed for better aerodynamics
   
• MIM-72B Training missile.
  a training missile with the radar fuze replaced with an IR model for use against target drones.
   
• MIM-72C Improved Chaparral. Featuring an improved the advanced AN/DAW-1B seeker with all-aspect capability and , as well as a new doppler radar fuze and M250 blast-frag warhead. The fuze and warhead were adapted from the earlier Mauler program. C models were deployed between 1976 and 1981, reaching operational status in 1978.
   
• RIM-72C Sea Chaparral. Naval version - Evaluated but not deployed by the US Navy. Adopted by Taiwan.
   
• MIM-72D Export version not used by the United States
  it combines the seeker of the "A" with the improved M250 warhead.
   
• MIM-72E MIM-72C missiles retrofitted with a new M121 smokeless motor.
   
• MIM-72F Export version of the MIM-72C
   
• MIM-72G Fitted with a new AN/DAW-2 based on the seeker in the FIM-92 Stinger POST giving improved resistance to countermeasures. This was retrofitted to all Chaparral missiles during the late 1980s. New missiles were produced between 1990 and 1991.
   
• M30 Inert training missile based on MIM-72A
   
• M33 Inert training version of MIM-72C

 

 

 

 

 

Stats of the vehicle:

 

 

 

general specifications:

Crew: 5

Weight 12.83 t

Length 5.89 m

Width 2.68 m

Height 2.81 m

 

Mobility:

Engine General Motors 6V53 diesel

Engine power 212 hp

Maximum road speed 56 km/h

Amphibious speed on water ~ 8 km/h

Range 483 km

power to weight: 16.5 hp/t

 

Armor:

up to 44mm alluminium

 

Armament:

1 launcher with 4 MIM-72 missiles

8 missiles stored in the hull
 

Sensors:

IFF interogator

thermal gunner optic (later models)

 

 

MIM-72 Missile:

• Length: 2.87 m (113 in)

• Finspan: 0.63 m (24.8 in)

• Diameter: 12.7 cm (5 in)

• Weight: 88 kg (195 lb)

• Speed: Mach 2.5+

• Propulsion: Hercules MK 36 solid-fuel rocket

  • Thrust: 2880lbs (1306kg) for 5 seconds

• Guidance duration: 60 seconds

• Warhead: 11kg (25lbs) MK 48 continuous-rod warhead with 2.95kg (6.5lbs) HMX (~ 5kg TNT)

  • Prox Fuze triggering distance: 9m (30ft)

• Seeker:

  • FOV: 2.5°

  • Gimbal limit: 40°

  • Tracking rate: 12°/s

  • Cooling: Nitrogen

• Maneuvering capability: up to 16.5g at Sea Level

• Rear Aspect only
  All aspect after MIM-72C

  • All aspect lock range: 4-6km

• Range: 6-9km

 

 

In War Thunder

 

 

in WT this vehicle would be a lower tiered SAM in the US techtree, a BR of 9.7 to 9.3 would be perfect considering it ONLY has IR missiles and no other weapon to defend itself.

 

stock it would get the basic MIM-72A and upgraded I would give it the MIM-72G and also thermal sights, to reflect a late model M48

in its upgraded format it would be a decent SAM vehicle against jets and helicopters that come way to close (so that the IR seeker can see them)

the MIM-72 missiles have a decent agility (16g, though later versions may be able to pull harder) and are specially lethal against unaware targets.

because the M48 has no radar system it also has a slight advantage in dealing with more modern planes that have RWR systems

all in all it would be a decent vehicle that is far from OP.

 

this is what SAMs should have been in WT from the start on IMHO

no mouse guided stuff like we got at the start.

 

 

 

 

 

Sources used:

http://www.military-today.com/missiles/m48_chaparral.htm

http://www.designation-systems.net/dusrm/m-72.html

https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/MIM-72_Chaparral

https://apps.dtic.mil/sti/pdfs/ADA434389.pdf

 

Edited September 15, 2020 by Iron_physik

[leroyonly 4,310]

Open for discussion. 

[Milocat 4,854]

+1 as a starting U.S. SAM, nice find.

[Guest]

+1, this was on my list of vehicles that need suggested. I can scratch that off now, which is certainly a good thing considering the list is very very long.

[ACOMETS 977]

good start for later SAM models against next modern jets

[MonkeyBussiness 1,228]

should have been added before the ADATS

[Guest]

1 minute ago, MonkeyBussiness said:

should have been added before the ADATS

Not necessarily. I think the ADATS makes a wonderful top tier SPAA.

[MonkeyBussiness 1,228]

On 19/09/2020 at 22:16, CobraKingII said:

Not necessarily. I think the ADATS makes a wonderful top tier SPAA.

they jump the entire SAM history ,same with the tunguska  , it was a really dumb move IMO

and like you said "makes a wonderful top tier SPAA." but what about br between 8.0/8.3 to 9.7/10.0/10.3 ?

 

Edited September 22, 2020 by MonkeyBussiness

[Guest]

18 minutes ago, MonkeyBussiness said:

they jump the entire SAM history ,same with the tunguska  , it was a really dumb move IMO

and like you said "makes a wonderful top tier SPAA." but what about br between 8.0/8.3 to 9.7/10.0/10.3 ?

 

I didn't say we didn't need to fill in the gaps. I have actually made suggestions for top tier American SPAA lol (T249 Vigilante, M6 Linebacker, and I'm going to suggest the XM-246 soon as well).
All I said was that we shouldn't necessarily have gotten it before the ADATS, but instead we should have gotten it at the same time or sooner after getting the ADATS. I never said it was a good move either. Please read what I actually said. I didn't say that we don't need more, I just said that for top tier the ADATS is quite good.

As you can see, I absolutely want more American SPAA, it's what I think the tech tree lacks the most. More DIVAD prototypes, such as the T249 Vigilante (the 35 mm one) and the XM-246 as well. I think the Raytheon DIVAD proposal would work as well, since they did at some point put the Gepard turret on the M48A5 chassis for it as a proof of concept. The M6 Linebacker would be nice to have as well, even if the Stingers are underperforming. The M48 is good as well, and I made a whole suggestion full of half-track SPAAGs for the US.

Edited September 22, 2020 by Guest

[ACOMETS 977]

if only there was a thing with only bushmaster and no atgm

 

[Hikhara 5,196]

I'm still hoping for this thing.

[Conraire 5,723]

This vehicle was also originally developed to work along side the M163 VADS, as a sister vehicle.  So this is something I definitely would like to see the Devs add to the game.  +1

[FunkyClam69420@live 3]

I support this vehicle to be added. There's an enourmously absurd gap between conventional ballistic air defence systems and mach 3+, anti-armor capable missiles armed vehicle in US tech tree. This will be the perfect low to medium range airspace defence system just before ADATS. It's even capable to communicate with radar equipments as possible future patchs to be added like early AWACS equipments or multi-layered air defence systems

[Abrams_X 1,234]

+1, US definitely need a missile AA between the M247 and the ADATS.

8.7 to 10.7 is a big jump

[SirScorpion 1,091]

This is very much needed in the 8.7 to 9.0 range. along with equivalents for other nations, while more advanced SAMs can go to the new 10.7-11BR.

 

Strela 9 and 10m for USSR.

China is good now with gun missile system same with Italy.

Wesel stinger for GER.

VAB/VBL mistral "plenty of options for france" 

Javelin for GB "plenty of configurations"

 

[Aerobane 4,140]

Its absolutely criminal that we still don't have these types of SAMs in war thunder, as they are much more interesting and balanced than the saclos/beam riding point 10km memes that we have instead. The air defense gap between ballistic SPAA at 8.3 and tunguskas/adats/VT-1s at 10.3+ is causing huge problems. Something like a MIM-72C would be a good counter to AGM CAS around 8.7-9.3 for USA, and other nations should get equivalents too.

[csla1972 849]

+1

We need more missile systems like MIM-72 or Strela-1/10.

[Zev_Winters 313]

Based on what's posted here about the maximum range, this seems to be ~9.0 material (my take is that a lot of SPAA are currently overtiered relative to what they face in the air).

[Yontzee 1,673]

Yeahhhhh! +1

[hienapunk 1,064]

A fun way to hit fast movers. +1

[LegionCXVII 6]

I know this post is a couple years old, but I think it's still a great idea. It could fit in 3 different trees as of writing my response (USA, China, and Israel), and while there have been a couple new SAM systems added to the US tree over the past few months, I feel like the MIM-72 deserves a place in the US tree so much more than a prototype like the XM975, and I honestly wish Gaijin had added something like this to start off instead of things the ADATS or Tunguska because SACLOS SAM systems are still basically impossible to counter or evade in the current state of the game since you can't use countermeasures to throw off their tracking and there still aren't anti-radiation missiles.

[Hartsy1 32]

Yes please