In 1959 the US Army signed a contract with General Dynamics for XMIM-46 Mauler development. Its was a very ambitious system for the time, and
the intended targets included tactical rockets oin the Honest John category.
The Mauler was a beam rider with IR terminal guidance. A 12 round launcher with exploration/illuminating radar was installed on a XM-546 tracked
vehicle, derived form the M-113 APC. It was also to be fitted in US Navy vessels, most notably in the DE-1152 (later FF-1052) frigates as the RIM-46A Sea
Mauler.
The way the system worked was; the Raytheon acquisition radar first detected the target and tracked it. A Burroughs Fire Control computer then cued
the illumination antenna, which was pointed towards the target, and started to track with the beam and the missile was fired. The missile then flew into
the beam, picked up the beam and rode it until the target was hit.
The missile itself was quite thin and had four sections, guidance section, warhead, rocket motor and navigation/governing section, with fins, regulation
motor and two batteries. Its characteristics were:
Length: 1,83m
Diameter: 0,13mç
Span: 0,33m
Weight: 54,4kg
Range: 8km
The whole program was finally canceled in 1965 after the prototype was finished.
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XM546 ~ M113 based TEL
XM546E1 ~ Improved TEL
XMIM-46 ~ Land-based missile
XMIM-46A ~ Improved missile
RIM-46 ~ Sea-based missile
RIM-46A ~ Improved missile
Sheridan [Mauler TEL] ~ TEL based on a Sheridan chassis.
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GENERAL RECOGNITION POINTS
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