SCALP cruise missile

The most important difference between a SCALP missile and a prototype is in the composition of the used guidance system and the range of the SCALP - it is 250 km and in the future should be brought to 400 km against 150 km for Apach. A twofold increase in the range of SCALP is achieved primarily by reducing the size of the payload compartment and placing an additional fuel tank in the available volume. The boom-like wing of the missile in the marching position is 2.53 m. Small-size turbojet engine "TRI Microturbo 60-30" provides an opportunity to fly at an extremely low altitude with a marching speed of up to 1050 km/h.

For launching from the submarine, the KR will be equipped with two solid propellant launch accelerators.

The 2.2 m long compartment located in the central part of the missile body is designed to accommodate the combat load, the total mass of which can reach 700 kg. At present, the SCALP is considered by the French Ministry of Defense primarily as a means of isolating combat areas. For this reason, MIFF anti-tank mines, MUSA GP or MUSPA anti-personnel mines or KRISS or Samanta munitions designed to destroy runways of airfields are planned as the combat load for the new missile. It is possible to equip the CR SCALP with a concrete piercing BC capable of penetrating concrete walls 5-7m thick.

In the design of the SCALP missile used a number of measures aimed at reducing primarily its radar visibility of the missile: the missile body is formed by the intersection of flat surfaces that do not have, however, sharp edges in the interface, and covered with radio-absorbing material, engine turbine blades are shielded from the sighting by ground radar curved air duct, etc.

Decrease in the probability of detection of the missile in flight contributes to the fact that the entire marching section of the trajectory it passes at an altitude of 100-150m, and immediately before the attack of the designated object is reduced even lower - to 50m.

When developing the SCALP guidance system, the tactical and technical requirements prohibited the use of the NAVSTAR satellite navigation system as the main one. This decision was political and was taken by the French Government on the grounds that France had no control over the NAVSTAR SNA established and operated by the United States. Under such circumstances, it cannot be ruled out that, in a crisis situation, the United States might make adjustments to the operation of the SNA (by replacing, say, the codes of information transmitted) and that the precise navigation of the French weapons systems attached to it might prove difficult or even impossible.

In order to avoid such a possibility, as well as to exclude in the future the prospect of disruption of CD guidance by interfering with the operation of the SNA of any other type, the guidance system of the SCALP missile is built on an autonomous scheme (although it is equipped with satellite navigation sensors). The main role in it is played by the inertial system (INS). The necessary high accuracy of guidance is ensured by the fact that the INS is periodically corrected in flight based on data from a radar visier operating in the millimetre range of wavelengths, which are compared with satellite terrain maps available on board. Two kilometres away from the target, an infrared homing head (developed by GEC-Marconi Avionics) is activated according to the inertial system, which provides guidance to the missile in the final part of the flight. The missile's onboard processor stores data allowing the missile to identify targets based on their thermal portrait. When attacking high-protected targets, the onboard processor ensures the selection of the optimal dive angle to the target for a reliable hit.