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Rapier (missile)
BAC / BAe / Matra · Surface-to-Air · UK · Cold War (1970–1991)
Rapier is a surface-to-air missile developed for the British Army to replace their towed Bofors 40/L70 anti-aircraft guns. The system is unusual as it uses a manual optical guidance system, sending guidance commands to the missile in flight over a radio link. This results in a high level of accuracy, therefore a large warhead is not required.
Specifications
- Category
- Missiles
- Sub-Category
- SAM
- Domain
- Defence
- Era
- Cold War (1970–1991)
- Country
- UK
- Manufacturer
- BAC / BAe / Matra
- Operator
- UK/export
- Primary Role
- Surface-to-Air
- Status
- In Service
- Service Entry
- 1971
- Produced
- 25000
- Unit Cost (2026$)
- $300K
- Propulsion
- Rocket
- Engine
- BAC solid-fuel rocket
- Thrust / Power
- None (rocket)
- Launch
- Ground-launched
- Length (ft)
- 7.3
- Wingspan (ft)
- 1.4
- Empty Weight (lb)
- 46
- MTOW (lb)
- 94
- Payload (lb)
- 15
- Service Ceiling (ft)
- 20000
- Range (mi)
- 4
- Max Speed (mph)
- 1918
- Max Speed (Mach)
- 2.5
- Armament
- Blast-fragmentation