Kormoran anti-ship missile

The rocket has a normal aerodynamic pattern with a cross-shaped wing and steering wheels. The hull is made up of three compartments. The first of them is an active radar homing head (SAR), the second - the combat unit and the fuse with a safety executive mechanism, a vertical correction gyroscope, two-gyroscope inertial platform with a calculator, time relay. The third compartment accommodates a marching motor, processing and guidance units, a radio altimeter with antennas, steering servo motors, a power supply and starting accelerators built into the housing.

The blast time BC is designed to engage targets like a squadron destroyer. The CNS can operate in passive mode.

Kormoran missiles can be fired in two ways.

For the first of them, the coordinates of the detected target are manually entered into the missile's computing inertial navigation system in advance. On a course of convergence of the aircraft radar is not included, guidance is carried out by the calculator. The attacking aircraft is flying at an altitude of about 30 m. For preliminary clarification of the coordinates of the target it performs a short-term maneuver with a set altitude and simultaneous inclusion of the radar. Clarified target movement parameters are automatically entered into the inertial system calculator. After entering the combat course, the pilot regains altitude and activates the radar again to finalize the target coordinates. The missile can be launched either before entering the ship's air defense zone (usually at a range of 20 km and from an altitude of 30 m) or after leaving it. In the latter case, the carrier instantly performs an anti-missile manoeuvre and exits the enemy's firing range. After launch, the missile is accelerated by the launch accelerators to supersonic speed (the acceleration time of the accelerators is less than 1 s), which soon decreases. The flight at an altitude of about 15 m is controlled by a radio altimeter. In the marching section of the trajectory, the missile is pre-manoeuvred by an inertial system with a deviation within the accumulated error. A few kilometres from the target, the active homing head is activated and the radar search area begins. The homing head can detect a surface target when the sea waves up to six points and provide guidance when performing evasive manoeuvres under electronic warfare conditions.

The second method provides less visibility of the aircraft, because the missile is launched using an optical sight. After visual detection of a target, its motion parameters are entered into the onboard control system. After capturing the target by the equipment of the homing head is carried out missile launch, and the aircraft carrier performs anti-aircraft maneuver and leaves the zone of air defense of the attacked ship. The missile is immediately reduced to a height of 2-3 m, the inertial system works only at the command of the homing head.

During flight tests, the Kormoran missiles hit targets at wave heights above 3.5 m. In the homing area, the flight altitude is reduced to 2-3 m, which provides a direct hit of the missile aboard the ship.

The relatively short range of the Kormoran rocket is explained by the fact that it is designed for use in limited areas of the Baltic and North Seas, in particular, in the pre-beast and strait areas.