MIM-23B I-Hawk American Surface-to-Air Missile (SAM) System
MIM-23B Hawk, MIM-23 I-Hawk
Medium-Range Surface-to-Air Missile System
Other
Basic Information
Name
MIM-23B I-Hawk American Surface-to-Air Missile (SAM) System
Designation
MIM-23B Hawk, MIM-23 I-Hawk
Alternate Designation
MIM-23B Hawk, MIM-23 I-Hawk
Equipment Type
Medium-Range Surface-to-Air Missile System
Manufacturer
Raytheon
Date of Introduction
1971
Description
The Raytheon MIM-23 Hawk (or HAWK: Homing All the Way Killer) is an American medium-range surface-to-air missile. The MIM-23 I-Hawk or MIM-23B has a larger 74 kg (163 lb) blast-fragmentation warhead, a smaller and improved guidance package, and a new M112 rocket motor. The new warhead produces approximately 14,000 2-gram (0.071 oz) fragments that cover a much larger 70 degree arc. The missiles M112 rocket motor has a boost phase of 5 seconds and a sustain phase of 21 seconds. The motors total weight is 395 kg (871 lb) including 295 kg (650 lb) of propellant. This new motor improves the engagement envelope to 1.5 to 40 km (0.93 to 24.85 mi) in range at high altitude, and 2.5 to 20 km (1.6 to 12.4 mi) at low altitude, the minimum engagement altitude is 60 meters (200 ft). The missile was operational in 1971. All US units had converted to this standard by 1978. A typical Phase-III MIM-23B Hawk battery consists of: 1 × PAR: Pulse Acquisition Radar—a search radar with a 20 (+/−2) rpm rotation, for high/medium altitude target detection. 1 × CWAR: Continuous Wave Acquisition Radar—a search doppler radar with a 20 (+/−2) rpm rotation, for low altitude target detection. 2 × HIPIR: HIgh Power Illuminator doppler Radar—target tracking, illumination and missile guidance. 1 × FDC: Fire Direction Center 1 × IFF: Identification Friend or Foe Transceiver 6 × DLN: Digital Launchers with 18 missiles. 6 × MEP-816: Generators 60KW (400 Hz) each. 12 × M-390: Missile transport pallets with 36 missiles 3 × M-501: Missile loading tractors. 1 × [bucket loader]
Ground Specifications
Mobility Type
Towed
Engine
Solid-Fuel Rocket
NBC Protection
Yes
Variants
I-Hawk (Improved Hawk /Hawk B/MIM-23B)
This variant reached initial operating capability (IOC) in 1972. Upgrades from the original Hawk included solid-state electronics, factory certified and sealed missile round, all-altitude capability, digital automatic data processor for the information coordination central (ICC), improved solid-pro pellant rocket motor and a larger warhead.
Hawk Mobility Enhancement (HME)
This was jointly developed by Raytheon and the Dutch air force. It reduced number of vehicles in a Hawk firing unit from 14 trucks and trailers to seven, updated the Hawk launcher and simplified reloading.
Patriot /Hawk Interoperability
This is a software upgrade to permitting Hawk missile platoons to receive targeting data from Patriot information coordination center (ICC). An April 1988 test simulated an interception of a short-range tactical missile by shooting down a missile traveling at Mach 2 and at an altitude of more than 25,000 ft (7,620 m).
Sparrow /Hawk Demonstration Program
In 1985, Raytheon combined elements of two of its missile products into one system. The Sparrow /Hawk system replaced the three I-Hawks on the M192 launcher with eight AIM-7 Sparrow missiles (the original launcher had nine missiles).
NOAH (Norwegian Adapted Hawk )
INA
Iran MIM-23 Hawk variant
Iran reportedly made several upgrades to MIM-23 missiles for the carriages of its F-14 Tomcats. Some were displayed in Tehran in September 1998.
Danish Enhanced Hawk (DEHAWK)
Introduced in December 2002, the Danish Enhanced Hawk (DEHAWK) was developed by Terma and Thales. After several years of delays, the program was handed over to the Danish Air Materiel Command.
System
Alternative Designation
MIM-23B Hawk, MIM-23 I-Hawk
Type
medium-range surface-to-air missile.
Family
MIM-23 Hawk Family
Manufacturer
Raytheon Company
In Service
1971-Present
Crew
INA
Displacement Time
INA
Emplacement Time
INA
Fire on the Move
No
Note #1
The original Hawk has been phased out of NATO and U.S. service, although several countries have missiles in storage. All active Hawk missiles are the I-Hawk variant.
Note #2
Product Improvement Plan In 1973 the US Army started an extensive multi-phase Hawk PIP (Product Improvement Plan), mainly intended to improve and upgrade the numerous items of ground equipment.
Phase I
Phase I involved replacement of the CWAR with the AN/MPQ-55 Improved CWAR (ICWAR), and the upgrade of the AN/MPQ-50 PAR to Improved PAR (IPAR) configuration by the addition of a digital MTI (Moving Target Indicator). The first PIP Phase I systems were fielded between 1979 and 1981.
Phase II
Developed from 1978 and fielded between 1983 and 1986. upgraded the AN/MPQ-46 HPI to AN/MPQ-57 standard by replacing some of the vacuum tube based electronics with modern solid-state circuits, and added an optical TAS (Tracking Adjunct System). The TAS, designated OD-179/TVY, is an electro-optical (TV) tracking system that increases Hawk operability and survivability in a high-ECM environment.
Phase III
The PIP Phase III development was started in 1983, and was first fielded by U. S. forces in 1989. Phase III was a major upgrade which significantly enhanced the computer hardware and software for most components of the system, a new CWAR the AN/MPQ-62, added single-scan target detection capability, and upgraded the HPI to AN/MPQ-61 standard by addition of a Low-Altitude Simultaneous Hawk Engagement (LASHE) system. LASHE allows the Hawk system to counter saturation attacks by simultaneously intercepting multiple low-level targets. The ROR was phased out in Phase III Hawk units.
Dimensions
Length
5.03 m
Diameter
0.37 m
Wingspan
1.21 m
Weight, Combat
640 kg
Warhead Weight
54 kg
Automotive
Engine Name
1 x Aerojet dual-thrust solid-fuel rocket (M112 motor)
Engine Type
Solid-fuel rocket engine
Speed
Mach 2.7
Transporter
The Hawk missile is transported and launched from the M192 towed triple-missile launcher.
M112 Motor Burn Rate
a 5-second boost phase and a sustain phase of around 21 seconds.
M112 Motor Weight
395 kg including 295 kg of propellant.
Communications
Note
See Fire Control
Missile System
Name
MIM-23B
Type
Semi-active Radar Homing Missile
Guidance
Semi-active Radar Homing
Length/Caliber
INA
Maximum Effective Range
35 km
Minimum Effective Range
1.5 km
Maximum Altitude
18 km
Minimum Altitude
30 m
Max Elevation
INA
Min Elevation
INA
Traverse Range
INA
Traverse Left
INA
Traverse Right
INA
Max Rate of Fire
INA
Launcher
M192 towed triple-missile launcher
Reflector
low side lobe, high-gain plane antenna to reduce sensitivity to ground clutter
Warhead Type
Conventional high-explosive blast fragmentation
Warhead Weight
54 kg
Warhead Fragments Speed
2,000 meters per second
Warhead Fragments
14,000 2-gram (0.071 oz) fragments
Warhead Fragments Arc
70 deg
Fuze Type
radio frequency proximity and impact fuses
Speed
Mach 2.5
Guidance System
X-band CW monopulse semi-active radar seeker.
Kill Probability
0.85 (Improvement from the MIM-23A)
Mean Time Between Failures (MTBF)
300-400 hours
Peak Velocity
500 m/s
Maximum Maneuver Speed
15 Gs
Fire Control
Note
The original Hawk system used 4 or in some models 6 radars: to detect (PAR and CWAR), to track (CWAR and HPIR) and to engage (HPIR and ROR) targets.
Fire Control System
Name
INA
Computerized FCS
Yes
Direct Fire
Yes
Indirect Fire
Yes
Fire Control Sensors
Yes
IADS Integration
INA
Digital Data Processing Central Information Coordinator
Yes, for Target Processing, Threat Ordering, and Intercept Evaluation.
Radar #1
Name
AN/MPQ-50 (Improved Hawk to Phase III)
Type
PAR Pulse Acquisition Radar
Digital MTI (Moving Target Indicator)
Yes
Frequency
500 to 1,000 MHz
Band
C-Band
Peak Operating Power
1,000 watts
High PRF Range
104 km
Low PRF Range
96 km
Radar #2
Name
AN/MPQ-48 (Improved Hawk)
Type
CWAR Continuous Wave Acquisition Radar
Power Rating
400 Watts
Frequency
10 GHz (X-Band)
Range
69 km (43 mi) (CW) to 63 km (39 mi) (FM) versus 3 m2 (32 sq ft) target.
Radar #3
Name
AN/MPQ-46 (Improved Hawk – Phase I)
Type
HPIR High Power Illuminating Radar
Power Output
125 Watts
Operating GHz Band
10-20 GHz J band
Range
99 km (62 mi) (high PRF) to 93 km (58 mi) (low PRF) versus 3 m2 (32 sq ft) target.
Radar #4
Name
AN/MPQ-51 (Improved Hawk – Phase II)
Type
ROR Range Only Radar
Frequency
15.5-17.5 GHz)
Pusle Radar
Yes
Power Output
120 kW
Pusle Length
0.6 µs
Pulse Repetition Frequency
1600 Hz
Range
83 km (52 mi) versus 3 m2 (32 sq ft) target
Protection
Hull Armor
INA
Turret Armor
INA
Applique Armor
No
Explosive Reactive Armor
No
Active Protection System
INA
Mine Clearing
No
Self-Entrenching Blade
INA
NBC Protection
Yes
Smoke Equipment
No
Details
Country of Origin
United States
Category
Radar Guided Missile Systems
Land > Air Defense > Radar Guided Missile Systems
Filter Label
M
Classification
Domain
Ground
Equipment Status
Active
Dimensions
Length
5.03 m
Width
0.37 m
Height
—
Weight
640 kg
Operators (15)
United States
Japan
South Korea
Sweden
Iran
Spain
Bahrain
Egypt
Greece
Kuwait
Kyrgyzstan
Saudi Arabia
Singapore
United Arab Emirates
Kurdistan
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