Today we’ll be taking a look at the Tracked Rapier, featuring the new Rapier missile installed onto the back of a M548 cargo-carrier that was in service with the British Army!
RCM 748 Tracked Rapier: An SPAA for Great Britain at Rank VII
At a glance:
- The brand-new Rapier missile — Mk.1E and Mk.2!
- 8 missiles ready to fire.
- 61 km/h max vehicle speed.
- Lightly armored.
Vehicle History
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The Rapier surface-to-air missile was developed for the British Army in the 1960s with the intention of replacing outdated and traditional anti-aircraft guns at RAF bases. This missile entered service with the British Army in 1971 as a static missile system.
An additional requirement by Iran was made to mount this missile system onto a tracked and mobile vehicle to help protect their Chieftain tanks. The Guided Weapons Division of BAC selected the American M548 as the vehicle and modified it to fit the Rapier missiles and a radar, which was first shown as the “Tracked Rapier” at the Paris Air Show in 1977. However, by the time Iran could receive orders, their government collapsed and had canceled defense contracts. Shortly after the British Army became interested and purchased several of these vehicles, first entering service in 1983 with the Royal Artillery.
The Tracked Rapier saw use in the Gulf War with the 12th and 16th Air Defence Regiments of the British Army. In the mid to late 1990s, it was phased out from service by the Stormer HVM vehicle. The RAF Cosford Museum has one Tracked Rapier on display.
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Introducing the Tracked Rapier!
In the Hornet’s Sting major update, Great Britain is receiving a rather awesome SAM platform in the form of the Tracked Rapier! This new vehicle features a brand-new piece of weaponry, the British Rapier missile that’s capable of taking out planes and helicopters. Let’s take a further look!
Introducing the surface-to-air Rapier missile, brand-new to the game! This missile is SACLOS guided — lock onto your target through the radar and let the missile follow and hit. The Rapier Mk.1E missile can fire at a range of 7 km and the Mk.2 at 8 km! These missiles are proximity based as well, meaning you just need to fire near your target and wait for it to explode, much like the Roland 2 missile.
Did you know? “Rapier” is a type of thin-bladed sword, mainly used by Spain and Italy in the 16th century. Quite a good name for the Rapier missile, describing its appearance rather aptly!
Since the Rapier missile system was originally intended and used in static positions to protect high value assets, Iran requested that it be mounted onto a mobile chassis, leading the British Aircraft Corporation to look for solutions. They selected the American M548 cargo-carrier as the vehicle of choice, which was heavily modified to fit these missiles and featured some more armor at the front. Regardless of this, the Tracked Rapier still lightly protected and can be taken out by most enemy fire, especially with only 3 crew members, so keep this in mind while driving around!
8 Rapier missiles (with no stowed spares) are mounted onto the back of the M548 and can rotate 360 degrees in place and have good elevation angles. Much like the Imp.Chaparral already in the game — which is also a modified M548 — the Tracked Rapier can reach a top speed of 61 km/h and weighs 14 tons. This platform can maneuver around decently but is not as good as many other contemporary vehicles regarding overall mobility. To top it off, there are smoke grenade launchers at the front and back of the vehicle, good for concealing against enemy fire.
That’s it for this dev blog! The Tracked Rapier is going to provide Great Britain with some awesome domestic SAM coverage when it arrives in the Hornet’s Sting major update. See you in a few!
Please note that this vehicle’s characteristics may be changed before it is added to the game.
