The new short-range A-Darter missile of South Africa's Denel Dynamics will feature a cooling system for its infrared seeker from Marotta Controls.
The New Jersey company said its MPACT Pure Air Compression Technology will provide the missile with a continuous flow of pure dry air to cool the seeker in all weather conditions, reducing the risk of the seeker fouling or freezing because of moisture or air impurities.
"The Marotta Controls MPACT is a significant addition to the A-Darter missile system solution," said Marcus de Jonge, A-Darter Missile Program manager at Denel Dynamics. "It provides improved operational performance including unlimited mission time for the A-Darter missile and greatly enhances the deployability of the missile system with significantly reduced life cycle costs."
A-Darter is an air-to-air missile designed by Denel in cooperation with Brazil. It can be designated to a target using the aircraft's radar, a helmet sighting system or the missile's own autonomous scan feature.
Marotta Controls said it is providing Denel Dynamics with both development and production units of the system, which are being used on Gripen fighter aircraft.
The contract from the South African company is the first international order Marotta Controls has received for MPACT.
