Selex ES has carried out the first flight of its new Mirach 40 aerial target as it seeks the first customer for the unmanned training system.
Following a two-year development programme, the company announced on 23 February that the first flights took place on 23 December at the Salto di Quirra weapons testing range in Sardinia.
Selex will offer the Mirach 40 for both outright purchase and as a managed service, and says it is now ready for the first export customer, subject to licence approval – although it is yet to seal a deal.
The announcement was made during the IDEX exhibition in Abu Dhabi, suggesting a likely target market in the Middle East.
The development derived from the company’s other Mirach offerings, including the 100/5 integrated aerial target system.
The Mirach 40 is derived from the company's Mirach 100/5 offering.
Selex ES
“The new Mirach 40 is able to provide the same realistic threat simulation, but at a lower cost of ownership than was previously offered,” Selex says.
This was made possible by developing the target to use a launch catapult instead of pyrotechnical boosters, but it is able to offer a performance that matches other high-range targets, reaching speeds of some 200m/s (390kt, 720km/h), Selex says. It also uses the same ground control station as the Mirach 100/5.
NATO is a customer for the Mirach family of products, as is India, which bought the 100/5 outright following a four-year combat training services deal for the target system.
Source: FlightGlobal.com
