| « | The Spartan surface to air missile system was designed to protect NATO naval vessels from any possible aerial threats in close range. Armed with infra-red guided short-range anti-air missiles. This asset is normally deployed in tandem with Centurion surface to air missile system to deny air superiority to the enemy. Field Manual
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The Mk49 Spartan is a static 127 mm anti-aircraft weapon system mounted on NATO warships in ArmA 3. It was added with the release of the Jets DLC.
Overview[]
The Mk49 Spartan is a fire-and-forget anti-aircraft missile launcher that is designed to destroy helicopters and low-flying fixed-wing jets.
It is designed to load and fire 127 mm infrared-guided missiles fitted with high-explosive fragmentation (HE-Frag) warheads. The launcher itself is always pre-loaded with exactly 21 missiles, and is capable of launching all of them in under 30 seconds once a lock-on is acquired.
The Spartan's fire control system has three magnification zoom modes and is able to switch between using normal day, night, and black/white-hot thermal vision modes. It can be used to reliably engage targets at distances of up to 4,000 metres away.
Primarily intended for use on the USS Freedom, the Spartan serves as a smaller and lighter counterpart to the larger Mk21 Centurion. Unlike the Centurion, the Spartan's missiles have greatly reduced range and are only IR-guided; not to mention the warheads themselves being weaker damage-wise.
Its main advantage is that it has access to 13 more missiles at once, which makes it a better candidate to use in lieu of the Centurion against helicopters. The latter can then be reserved for use against faster and higher flying fixed-wing jets like the CSAT To-199.
Like most other autonomous defensive systems, the Spartan does not require a human user to control and can engage aircraft on its own. Nonetheless, it can still be manually operated by connecting to it with a UAV Terminal if necessary.
Camouflage[]
- Light Grey: Standard light grey paint scheme.
- Sand: Desert tan paint scheme.
- Green: Dark olive green paint scheme.
Sensors[]
The Spartan only has access to two passive sensor types:
| Sensor type | Max range (Air/Ground) | Min range (Air/Ground) | Affected by environment? | Target max speed (km/h) | Azimuth coverage (°) | Elevation coverage (°) | Friendly identification range (m) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Infrared | A: 4,000 m G: 3,500 m |
A: 500 m G: 500 m |
Fog (0.005%) | 2,160 km/h | 60° | 40° | 3,500 m |
| Data Link | A: 16,000 m G: 16,000 m |
A: 16,000 m G: 16,000 m |
Nothing | 1e+10 km/h | 360° | 360° | 0 m |
Infrared Sensor[]
NOTE: While the sensor on the Spartan missile actually has a maximum range of 5 km, the launcher itself will only be able to lock onto targets that are within a range of 4 km or less.
The IR Sensor is dependent on the turret's facing direction (represented by the RED cone on the SENSOR panel). It has an elevation offset of 0.5 degrees.
Although it is technically affected by heavy fog, the range reduction effect is so miniscule (-0.125 metre reduction) that it will be barely noticeable.
Data Link[]
The Spartan's data link can receive the locations of enemy contacts from any friendly forces within 16 km range.
It should be noted that data link is not restricted to the turret's facing direction.
Missile specifications[]
Spartan
| Base damage value | Proximity fuse radius (metres) | Maximum speed (m/s) |
|---|---|---|
| 130 | 20 | 800 |
Spartan missiles are exclusively infrared-guided. The missile seeker has a lock-on cone of 180 degrees (horizontally and vertically). It has a maximum tracking distance of 5 km against aerial targets but can only lock onto aircraft that are flying at speeds of 2,160 km/h or less. The seeker has an 8% chance of losing lock to flare countermeasures.
Missiles are hard launched with an initial velocity of 40 m/s. It takes 4 seconds for their motors to reach a top speed of 800 m/s in-flight. The warheads are high-explosive (HE) based and have a blast radius of 10 metres.
Spartan missiles only retain enough fuel for 20 seconds of flight time. They will automatically self-destruct if they cannot intercept their target within that duration.
Trivia[]
- The launcher for the Spartan is modelled after the real-world "Mk 31 Guided Missile Weapon System", while the missiles that it fires are based on the "RIM-116 Rolling Airframe Missile".
- "Spartans" were warriors that hailed from the ancient city-state of Sparta in Ancient Greece. Spartans were renown for their strict military discipline, fighting strength and fearlessness.
- Before the release of the Tanks DLC, it was not possible to lock onto Spartan turrets even if they were active. This was changed with Game Update 1.82 so that it is now possible to lock onto them infrared-guided missiles once the turret heats up.[1]
- The Spartan and its larger Centurion counterpart are the first autonomous, missile-based air defence systems in the entire series that can be used in actual gameplay.
Gallery[]
References[]
- ↑ Kovařič, V 2018, SPOTREP #00079, Arma 3, viewed 2 September 2023, <https://dev.arma3.com/post/spotrep-00079>.
External links[]
See also[]
Heavy AA systems of comparable role and configuration[]
- Praetorian 1C (Gun-based counterpart)
- Mk21 Centurion (Medium-ranged radar-guided counterpart)
| Heavy anti-air systems of ArmA 3 | |
|---|---|
| Land | MIM-145 Defender* • S-750 Rhea* |
| Naval | Mk21 Centurion • Mk49 Spartan • Praetorian 1C |
| Jets DLC * denotes content added as part of the Encore platform update. | |