Another successful Denel Dynamics product is the Umkhonto (Spear) naval SAM. This is in operational service with the South African Navy and the Finnish Navy and has been ordered by a third navy. Denel Dynamics has also developed a truck-mounted land version of the system. The basic version of the Umkhonto is the Umkhonto-IR (for infrared), a short-range ship defence weapon, which is currently in production. “Now we intend to increase the range of this missile in response to some client requirements,” reported air defence department manager Erick Huysamer. This, the Umkhonto-EIR (E for extended range), will allow the weapon to be used as a local area air defence system – that is, to protect other nearby ships as well as the launching ship. “The basic layout of this missile is exactly the same as the Umkhonto-IR.” This is achieved by shrinking the size of the missile’s electronics and increasing the size of its rocket motor. The next step will be the Umkhonto-ER, which will use a lot of the technology being developed for the Marlin, including the radar seeker and the DPMR. Basically, this Umkhonto version will use the front end of the Marlin and a scaled-up version of the DPMR. As the Umkhonto uses thrust vector control, the thrust vector system will have to be upgraded to handle the greater stresses imposed by the longer burn time of the DPMR. Initial tests have been successful but much work remains to be done. Also, to be effective, the Umkhonto-ER will need to be supported by “a serious radar,” in Huysamer’s words. Denel Dynamics is working with Saab in this regard, focusing on the latter’s Giraffe 4A active electronically-scanned array radar.
