Use of the Sprint missile in an Anti-Air Mode, viable or not?

[Graham1973]

Amongst my collection of technothrillers is the 1988 novel 'Ambush at Osirak (1988) by Herbert Crowder, this novel was published the year before the Soviet Union came to an end and was republished in 1990 into a changed world. One of the things that changed was that it ended the need to speculate so much about Russian weapons systems.

This novel features what I think is the last speculative Soviet weapon system, a fictional version of the SA-10 'Grumble' anti-air missile, which is described thusly by the author:

...galling to the Americans when they found out: that they had been beaten by their own technology. The SA-10 guidance that enabled multiple missiles to attack separate targets simultaneously was an adaption of the Phoenix missile guidance in the first-line US Navy fighter the F-14 Tomcat. And the SA-10 propulsion, the controlled explosion that shot the missile so rapidly into intercept position - the key to the missile's quick reaction - was almost a carbon copy of an abandoned antiballistic missile technique. In fact the new Russian missile with its cone shaped aerodynamic surface, was a dead ringer for the US Sprint missile...

...the Soviets had added a secret ingredient of their own that was the warhead. ...a tactical nuclear device, it's lethality equivalent to detonating 10 tons of TNT in the target vicinity.

This YouTube clip has footage of Sprint test launches.

View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QiyldgYKy_U


Is the authors idea even viable, could a Sprint style missile be used in an Anti-Air role? I'm trying to envisage what kind of launcher you would use, the author does not specify, but the implications are that it's using a mobile launcher similar to the SA-6, but would that even work with a missile that has the kind of performance the Sprint had. Any ideas?

 

[Hanse]

HEDI KITE was, basically, a hit-to-kill Sprint. Presumably if it could hit an RV it could hit an airplane. It would be a very expensive way to do it though. Obviously the "SA-10 is a carbon-copy of Sprint" is wrong. SA-12 (S-300V/ AN-2500) is somewhat similar to Sprint visually but that's about it. It uses cold-launch VLS. (Both Sprint and HiBEX used cold-launch VLS as well.)

 

[Michel Van]

There was the Nike Hercules (SAM-A-25 later MIM-14) a long range Anti-Air missile with secret ingredient:
The W31 nuclear warhead with 2 kt to 20 kt yield
Range: 90 miles (140 km)
Flight ceiling: 150,000 feet (46,000 m)
speed: Mach 3.65

Now compare to Sprint missile
The W66 nuclear warhead with neutron bomb at low yield (still classified)
Range: 25 miles (40 km)
Flight ceiling: 19 miles (30 km)
speed: Mach 10

You notice range of Nike Hercules of 90 miles vs 25 miles of Sprint.
The Sprint missile was for point defense of Cities and Military base in case of Nuclear Attack with ICBM.
And is the SA-10 'Grumble' really so perfect anti aircraft weapon ?
SAC Docktrine in end of 1980s was that there Bombers fly to distance of 1,500 miles to target
and each drop truckload of Cruise missiles, that low flying to there destination.

 

[Graham1973]

Thanks to everyone who has replied so far. Rather sadly the author does not include a proper 'balloon factory' sequence in the novel where he spells out in great detail the capabilities of the missile beyond the combat sequence in which it features. And that implies there is a strong range limitation of some kind, but also that the missile is "...half the size (length?)..." of an F-15.

 

[Hanse]

Thanks to everyone who has replied so far. Rather sadly the author does not include a proper 'balloon factory' sequence in the novel where he spells out in great detail the capabilities of the missile beyond the combat sequence in which it features. And that implies there is a strong range limitation of some kind, but also that the missile is "...half the size (length?)..." of an F-15.

Sprint was 27 feet long so. . .almost?

 

[CaseyKnight]

I don't see why it wouldn't be: For starters, the ceiling (according to Andreas Parsch) was around 100,000 feet which would cover the altitudes most aircraft fly at though I don't know what the minimum was; there's also the fact that the acceleration would allow it to get up to speed and altitude very rapidly; the presence of a nuclear warhead would mean that the kill radius would be larger than normal, and; the missile's maneuverability seemed to be nothing short of awesome: While the command-guidance system seemed to execute the most extreme course-corrects at lower speed to get the missile pointed where it needed to go right away to minimize structural loads, the maneuvers shown in test footage were quite abrupt and I'd imagine it would still produce a significant g-load even then.

Additionally, the missile site radar generated (IIRC) an enormously powerful radar which I'd imagine would be able to burn through most ECM.