RSE Kriens (missile)

RSE Kriens
Kriens RSe Missile on a duplex launcher at the Flieger-Flab-Museum
Type	Surface-to-air missile
Place of origin	Switzerland
Service history
In service	no
Production history
Designed	1959
Manufacturer	Oerlikon Contraves
Produced	1958–1966
Specifications
Mass	missile: 800 kg (empty 360 kg)
Length	5.4 m (17 ft 9 in)
Diameter	42 cm (1 ft 5 in)
Warhead	70 kg warhead
Engine	Solid fuel
Wingspan	2.0 m (6 ft 7 in)
Operational range	35 km (22 mi)
Flight ceiling	27,000 m (89,000 ft)
Maximum speed	Mach 2.9
Guidance system	Beam control
Steering system	control surface
Launch platform	vehicle or trailer

RSE Kriens was a Swiss-developed air defence missile. It never entered service. Kriens stands for the village in the canton of Lucerne Kriens.

Design and development

From 1959 to 1966 Contraves developed -along with many other Swiss companies - the Kriens drawing on the experience of the guided missile system RSC / D, RSD 58. The missile project was funded by Swiss industry and the federal government, and was developed up to production-ready stage. The first flight was on 23 March 1964.

The modular system used advanced technology for the ground equipment and the missiles. The whole system could be interconnected to a multi-part cluster, which included several radars and missile launchers. After introduction of the British Bristol Bloodhound as the BL-64 the project was cancelled by the EMD. For export, the system was given the name 'Micon' but the missile was never mass-produced, either for Switzerland nor for another nation

A launcher with two missiles is held at the Flieger-Flab-Museum. Contraves used the technical/technological experience/expertise gained, for the buildup of the research rocket Zenit-C.

The fire unit consists of: measuring radar, 1-3 radio collars, 4 launchers, command car, trolley and several units (generators). Trolley, command car, tracking device and aggregates were individually housed on single-axle trailers, the measuring radar and missile launchers on each two-axle trailers.

• Rowing span = 1.5 m
• Thrust / burning time t = 6.5 for 9 seconds then 1.8 t for 16 seconds
• Burnout velocity = 900 m / s
• =Generator on-board supply of hydraulic and electronic 20 kW

References

• Air Force Center/ Flieger-Flab-Museum " Fliegermuseum Dübendorf"
• Hugo Schneider: Armament and equipment of the Swiss Army since 1817: light and medium anti-aircraft air defence anti-aircraft missiles, Volume 12 of Armament and equipment of the Swiss Army since 1817, Publisher Stocker-Schmidt, 1982