French Aster30 air defense missile successfully shoots down supersonic target aircraft

French Navy air defense destroyer HMS Forbin, firing an Aster 30 anti-aircraft missile.

The Aster 30 (also known as Aster), an anti-aircraft missile developed by France for many years, successfully shot down a supersonic target aircraft during a NATO exercise, the first time an Aster missile has destroyed a target at such a high speed, and demonstrating that Supersonic anti-ship missiles can no longer easily call themselves “warship killers” and modern air defense systems are capable of intercepting them.

Defense World reported that the exercise was called “Formidable Shield 2021” (Formidable Shield 2021), and the content of the exercise was quite apt for the name. The defending French Navy air defense destroyer Forbin (Forbin, D620) successfully shot down a target aircraft simulating a supersonic anti-ship missile with an Astute 30 missile.

“Forbin air defense destroyer.

The Astor missile is a joint European naval air defense system developed by French missile manufacturer Eurosam, and with the participation of other European defense groups, and has gradually become the designated air defense missile of the French, British and Italian navies.

The Astor missile in launch, which is composed of 2 parts, the booster below and the fuel burned out after a period of flight will detach.

Aster is divided into two types, one is Aster15, and Aster30, the difference between the two types is the range, Aster15 is the basic type, the body 4.2 km, weight 310 kg, range 1.7 ~ 30 km; Aster30 is the extended range type, attached to a longer section of the booster, the body length of 5.2 meters, weight increased to 450 kg, range of 120 km The Aster30 is an extended-range version with a longer booster section.

The “Fubin” air defense destroyer belongs to Horizon Class, jointly developed by France and Italy, with a length of 153 meters, a width of 20 meters, a draft of 5.4 meters and a full load displacement of 7,000 tons, and a Selex Kronos multifunctional active phase array radar, which can be called “French S.H.I.E.L.D.”. It also functions similarly to the U.S. SHIELD, serving as the primary escort for aircraft carriers and protecting them from supersonic missile attacks.