Basic Information

Name

Roland-2 French Short-Range Air Defense (SHORAD) System

Designation

Roland-2

Alternate Designation

Roland-2

Equipment Type

Short-Range Surface-to-Air Missile System

Manufacturer

The main work on the complex was carried out by the German company "Messerchmitt-Bolkow-Blohm" (MIB) and the French company "Aerospatiale-Matra".

Date of Introduction

1981

Description

All-weather self-propelled anti-aircraft missile system "Roland-2" with a radar tracking system for target and missile tracking was developed by the company "Messerchmitt-Bolkow-Blohm" (Germany) together with "Aerospatiale-Matra" (France) and is capable of destroying targets flying at speeds up to M=1.2 at altitudes from 15m to 5.5 km and ranges from 500m to 6.3 km. Originally the complex was designed to meet the needs of the Bundeswehr, however, due to the obvious advantage of the new complex over the previously released Roland-1 SAM system, the French Army command decided to convert part of its Roland-1 systems into the Roland-2 version. Such a possibility was envisaged by the developers even at the stage of the complex creation. The complex was widely exported and in various variants is in service with the armies of France, Germany, Argentina, Brazil, Nigeria, Qatar, Spain, and Venezuela. One such variant is the Roland-2C air defense system developed by order of the Belgian Ministry of Defence for air defense of stationary objects located in the theater of war (airfields, bridges, warehouses, etc.). Unlike the "Roland-2" SAM system, in which all equipment is located on one tracked chassis, "Roland-2c" complex consists of a command post and launcher, placed on the chassis of the car "Berlie" (6X6), which has high cross-country ability. The use of this base allows the rapid transfer of SAMs over long distances on an equipped TVD.

Ground Specifications

Crew 3

Mobility Type Tracked

Max Speed 1475.8 km/h

Range 6.3 km

Variants

Roland-1 The original version of the system (later designated "Roland-1") was semi-automatic and non-weather. During the years of its service the complex was repeatedly upgraded. In 1981, the all-weather SAM system "Roland-2" was adopted for service and the program of modernization of some previously produced complexes "Roland-1" to the level of "Roland-2" was carried out (which increased the cost of the complex by 40%). In 1988 the improved automatic "Roland-3" was tested and put into production.

Roland-2 All-weather self-propelled anti-aircraft missile system "Roland-2" with a radar tracking system for target and missile tracking was developed by the company "Messerchmitt-Bolkow-Blohm" (Germany) together with "Aerospatiale-Matra" (France) and is capable of destroying targets flying at speeds up to M=1.2 at altitudes from 15m to 5.5 km and ranges from 500m to 6.3 km. Originally the complex was designed to meet the needs of the Bundeswehr, however, due to the obvious advantage of the new complex over the previously released Roland-1 SAM system, the French Army command decided to convert part of its Roland-1 systems into the Roland-2 version. Such a possibility was envisaged by the developers even at the stage of the complex creation.

Roland-3 All-weather self-propelled short-range air defense system "Roland-3" is designed and manufactured by EADS Euromissile and MBDA. Roland-3" SAM system is the result of consistent modernization of the family of anti-aircraft systems "Roland". It was adopted for service in 1988. The first serial models of the complex entered into service of the German Air Force air defense units and were used to cover German and American military airfields. 20 "Roland-3" complexes are in service with the German Airborne Division of the German Navy and are used for air defense of airfields, on which the Tornado fighter-bombers and Atlantic base patrol aircraft are based.

American Roland This variant was built in the United States. The launcher on pallet can be fitted to XM795 chassis (based on M109 self-propelled howitzer chassis). It is deployed on M812 6 x 6 trucks. There were Hughes Aircraft manufactured radars and electro-optical sight and missile electronics. Boeing Aerospace produced the launcher, warhead, aft section of missile.

AMX-30 chassis The variant is a standard AMX-30 tank chassis with a Roland launcher. France, Nigeria, Iraq, Qatar and Spain operated this system.

Marder chassis This is a standard Marder APC chassis with Roland launcher. It is in service in Brazil and Germany.

Shelter-mounted systems These systems were exported to Argentina, Iraq and Venezuela.

MAN 8 x 8 FlakRakRad This variant is an eight-wheel-drive vehicle with a shelter mounted on chassis between front and rear sets of axles. There is a digital fire-control processor and four launch tubes.

Paladin The Paladin was a competitor in the 1987 line-of-sight-forward-heavy (LOS-F-H) component trials of the U.S. Forward Area Air Defense System (FAADS). It was tested on a modified M109 self-propelled gun chassis. It could be combined with a Euromissile launcher and missile with Hughes Aircraft surveillance and tracking radars.

Glaive Glaive was a Franco-German programme under which Euromissile would develop a revised Roland fire unit for use with the RM5 missile. This would add an integrated thermal sighting system with laser rangefinder allowing for night/all-weather operation without using the radar. Contracts were issued in 1989 with the system intended to enter service in 1996. However, development of RM5 was cancelled in 1991

Roland M3S (upgrade) This variant prototype was offered to Thailand and Turkey, though it was not procured. It utilizes a Dassault Electronique Rodeo 4 radar or a Thomson-CSF radar system. The M3S is operable by one person, preferably two.

Roland NDV NDV, NutzungsDauerVerlängert, Extended Service Life. This was a German parallel to the French M3S, being developed by LFK GmbH for the German government. The control system was to be digitized and integrated into the HFLaAFüSys air-defence command and control system, with Roland 3 missile integration. Germany had a requirement to upgrade 84 Army (FlaRakPz 1A2) and 40 Luftwaffe (FlaRakRad) fire units. Trials had been completed in 2003 when Germany decided to withdraw Roland from use.

Roland Carol Conversion of existing French Roland 2 systems into a shelter-mounted version of the M3S standard. France procured 20 trailer-borne systems. France intended the shelterised variants for use with air-transported rapid-deployment forces. The upgraded fire unit could use either the existing Roland missile or the new Roland 3 missile.

Roland MX/Jason From 1969 Euromissile studied Roland as a possible naval weapon for shipboard installation. Originally known as Roland MX and later as Jason, the standard twin launcher (without search radar) with two below-decks 8-round reloading drums could be installed on a standard sized module that was featured in several Blohm & Voss MEKO frigate proposals of the 1970s. No prototype or production systems were built with attention turning early on to an abortive vertically launched missile.

System

Alternative Designation Roland-2

Type Short-Range Air Defense (SHORAD) System

Manufacturer The main work on the complex was carried out by the German company "Messerchmitt-Bolkow-Blohm" (MIB) and the French company "Aerospatiale-Matra".

Chassis AMX-30

Chassis Note Roland-2 French Short-Range Air Defense (SHORAD) System uses the base chassis of the AMX-30 MBT with a SAM turret consisting of a search radar mounted at the top, an optical sight and fire control radar on the face of the turret, and a single elevating missile launch tube on either side of the turret.

Crew 3 (a gunner-operator, a commander-operator and a mechanic-driver).

Composition The main equipment of the complex is assembled on a universal rotating tower unit and includes a radar antenna to detect air targets; a binocular telescopic sight; an infrared direction finder; a radio command transmission station aboard ZUR; two automatically controlled guides.

Unit Structure The Roland-2 is typically operated as part of an air defense regiment, which consists of four batteries with eight Roland launch vehicles each, as well as a command and maintenance unit.

Note The Roland-2 differs from the Roland-1 by the presence of target tracking radars and missiles, which ensure the functioning of the complex at any time of day regardless of weather conditions.

Dimensions (Chassis: AMX-30)

Length, Overall 6.59 m

Height, Hull Top 1.5 m

Height, Searchlight 2.86 m

Width 3.10 m

Track Length 2.53 m

Track Width 0.57 m

Weight, Unloaded INA

Weight, Combat 33 tons

Ground Pressure 0.77 kg/cm sq

Ground Clearance 450 mm

Automotive (Chassis: AMX-30)

Engine Name Hispano-Suiza HS 110

Engine Type 12 cylinders, supercharged, water-cooled, multifuel engine

Engine Power 720 hp at 2,000 rpm

Power-to-Weight Ratio 18.91 hp/t

Fuel Capacity 970 liters

Amphibious No

Electrical System 28 V

Batteries 8 × 12V, 100 Ah

Steering Triple differential

Clutch Centrifugal

Maximum Speed 65 km/h

Range 400 km

Gradient 60%

Side Slope 30%

Vertical Obstacle 0.93 m

Trench 2.9 m

Main Weapon System

Note The Roland-2 SAM system uses the Roland-2 missile and is compatible with the later Roland 3 missile.

System

Name AMX-30 TELAR

Type Transporter Erector Launcher and Radar (TELAR) System

Elevation INA

Traverse INA

Rate of Fire 1st shooting: 8 to 10 seconds; later shooting: 2 to 6 seconds

Reload Time 10 seconds

Guidance System SACLOS radio command guidance

Feed System The drum-type magazines are located on the sides in the PU housing, each of them accommodates four ZUR containers and is equipped with a hydraulic drive. There are 10 missiles in a portable PU ammunition set.

Modes of Operation Optical and Radar

Missile (Option #1)

Name Roland-2 Surface-to-Air Missile

Type Surface-to-Air Missile

Length 2.4 m

Diameter 160 mm

Wingspan 0.5 m

Weight 66.5 kg

Warhead HE-FRAG Warhead

Warhead Weight 6.5 kg, including 3.3 kg of explosive that is detonated either by impact or a TRT electromagnetic continuous wave radar-type proximity fuze.

Engine The 1600 kg SNPE Roubaix solid propellant launch engine has a thrust of 1.7 s and accelerates the missile to a speed of 500 m/sec. The SNPE Lampyre launch engine has a running time of 13.2 seconds.

Guidance System SACLOS radio command guidance.Guidance of the missile to the target can be carried out with the help of optical infrared sight, with the deviations of the ZUR from the given course are entered into the counting and solving device, and guidance commands are automatically transmitted to the board of the missile by the command transmitter. Guidance is also possible by means of a dual-channel monopulse radar for target and missile tracking. The transmitter of this radar is mounted on a magnetron.

Flight Control The ZUR flight control is gas-dynamic and is provided by the jet deflection of the marching engine.

Fuze impact, proximity.

Maximum Speed 1,800 km/h

Flight Time The flight time for the maximum range is 13-15 seconds.

Maximum Range 6.3 km

Minimum Range 0.5 km

Minimum Altitude 10 m

Maximum Altitude 5,500 m

Shrapnel Impact Radius up to 5 m

Basic Load 2 x missiles are carried ready to launch and another eight are carried in two revolver-type magazines, each of which holds four rounds. The missile container also serves as the launch tube.

Missile (Option #2)

Name Roland-3 Surface-to-Air Missile

Type Surface-to-Air Missile

Length 2.4 m

Diameter 160 mm

Wingspan 0.5 m

Weight 75 kg

Warhead HE fragmentation. a 9.2 kg warhead that contains 5 kg of explosives and 84 projectile charges to increase its lethality.

Warhead Weight 9.2 kg

Engine Two-stage Roxel (Fr) SD extruded double base solid propellant-powered missile.

Guidance System SACLOS radio command guidance

Flight Control The ZUR flight control is gas-dynamic and is provided by the jet deflection of the marching engine.

Fuze Type: Impact, proximity. An improved proximity fuze coupled with a new 5,000 m/s maximum velocity fragmentation pattern.

Maximum Speed 2,052 km/h

Flight Time 16 seconds

Maximum Range 8.0 km

Minimum Range 0.5 km

Maximum Altitude 6,000 m

Minimum Altitude 10 m

Shrapnel Impact Radius up to 5 m

Basic Load 2 x missiles are carried ready to launch and another eight are carried in two revolver-type magazines, each of which holds four rounds. The missile container also serves as the launch tube.

Radar System

Surveillance Radar 1 x Siemens MPDR 16 Pulse-Doppler Surveillance Radar.

Type Pulse-Doppler Surveillance Radar.

Frequency D-Band

Rotation Rate 60 rpm

IFF Interrogator 1 x Siemens MSR-400/5 (German vehicles) or 1 x LMT NRAI-6A (French vehicles) IFF system.

Automatically Suppresses Fixed Echoes Yes

Time of Target Detection does not exceed 4 seconds.

AIr Target Detection Speed 30-500 m/s at a range of up to 18 km (with an effective reflecting area of 1 m2).

Acquisition Range 1.5 to 16.5 km for a 1 m2 target operating between speeds of 50 and 450 m/s and can be folded down behind the turret rear for transport.

Tracking Radar 1 x two-channel, monopulse Doppler microwave Thales Domino 30 system; one channel tracks the target and the second locks in on a microwave source on the missile.

Note The radar is capable of detecting hovering helicopters.

Fire Control System

Name INA

Type Command guidance with dual tracking mode.

Tracking Mode Fire control radar with optical tracker.

Protection

Hull Armor The Roland-2 has a welded steel hull and cast steel turret. Its development was focused on firepower and mobility rather than protection. It could be penetrated by all contemporary anti-tank weapons. Hull Front: 79.0 mm; Hull Sides: 30-57 mm.

Turret Armor INA

Applique Armor INA

Explosive Reactive Armor No

Mine Clearing No

Self-Entrenching Blade INA

NBC Protection 1 x AMX-30B2 full-filtration NBC.

Smoke Equipment 2 x 2-barrel 80 mm smoke dischargers on turret rear.

Command Post Vehicle

Name 1 x Flugabwehrgefechtsstand Roland (FGR) Command Post Vehicle. In Bundeswehr service, a battery of Roland Family launchers would normally be equipped with 1 x FGR Command post vehicle.

Chassis MAN 8x8 Truck

Communication Suite Radio or wire links while the voice links use either 1 x SEL SEM 80 and 1 x SEM 90 radios or field telephones carry out data transfer to and from the weapons systems.

2D Radar 1 x TRM-L 2 D radar with integrated IFF.

Radar Frequency D-Band

Radar Maximum Elevation Coverage 60° within altitude limits of very low level to 6,000 m.

Radar Detection Range Detection range against a 1 m2 target in high-intensity ECM and clutter is said to be 46 km with a maximum radar range of 60 km claimed.

Displacement Time less than 15 min.

Emplacement Time less than 15 min.

Note The FGR detects the targets (thus allowing the Roland fire units to shut down their surveillance radars so as to improve their own survivability), processes the target information, and displays it on an air situation display with an indication of the nature of the threat.

Image Sources

Notes https://en.missilery.info/missile/roland-2; https://podarilove.ru/en/shema-boevoi-chasti-zur-roland-3-zenitno-raketnyi-kompleks/; https://nvuti-info.ru/en/krasota/shema-boevoi-chasti-zur-roland-3-zenitno-raketnyi-kompleks-roland-franciya/; https://coppershop.ru/en/interesting/shema-boevoi-chasti-zur-roland-3-zenitno-raketnyi-kompleks-roland.html;