The AS.34 Kormoran ( cormorant) is a German-produced

anti-ship missile An anti-ship missile (AShM) is a guided missile that is designed for use against ships and large boats. Most anti-ship missiles are of the sea skimming variety, and many use a combination of inertial guidance and active radar homing. A goo ...

. The Kormoran uses an inertial guidance system for the midcourse phase, switching to active radar homing during the terminal attack phase. It carries a 165 kg (363 lb) delay-fused warhead, designed for 90mm of penetration prior to detonation. The maximum range is 23 km (~14 miles).

Design and development

Development of the Kormoran started in 1962, being taken over by Messerschmitt-Bölkow-Blohm (now a part of EADS) in 1967. The missile was originally designed for anti-shipping roles in coastal waters, although it retains a secondary land-attack capability as well. It was deployed on the

Panavia Tornado The Panavia Tornado is a family of twin-engine, variable-sweep wing multirole combat aircraft, jointly developed and manufactured by Italy, the United Kingdom and West Germany. There are three primary Tornado variants: the Tornado IDS ( in ...

. 350 Kormoran 1s were produced. The AS.34 Kormoran 2 is an improved version of the AS.34 Kormoran 1. Development was started in 1983, with first flight and firing trials taking place in early 1986. The missile features an improved warhead, all-digital electronics, improved active radar seeker, increased ECM-resistance, a stronger

booster rocket A booster rocket (or engine) is either the first stage of a multistage launch vehicle, or else a shorter-burning rocket used in parallel with longer-burning sustainer rockets to augment the space vehicle's takeoff thrust and payload capabil ...

, a longer range, improved automated target selection, multiple launch capability, and an increased resistance to countermeasures. While still using the same basic airframe as Kormoran 1, the Kormoran 2 has a greater range of 35 km (21.7 miles) and a heavier 220 kg (485 lb) warhead. Testing ended in 1987, and the missile entered service with the

German Navy The German Navy (, ) is the navy of Germany and part of the unified ''Bundeswehr'' (Federal Defense), the German Armed Forces. The German Navy was originally known as the ''Bundesmarine'' (Federal Navy) from 1956 to 1995, when ''Deutsche Mari ...

in 1991. Approximately 140 missiles were produced for Germany.

Operators

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Specifications

*Name: AS.34 Kormoran 1/2 *Weight: 600/630 kg *Length: 4,40 m *Range: 23/35 km *Warhead: 165/220 kg *Guidance: INS/ active radar homing

External links

MissileThreat.com
courtesy of The Claremont Institute, retrieved 2 August 2007

AS.34 Kormoran, retrieved 2 August 2007 {{Use dmy dates, date=June 2017
Forecast International
Anti-ship missiles of Germany Cold War weapons of Germany Military equipment introduced in the 1970s