Once upon a time I was a research physicist working for a UK defense contractor. I took up this job fresh from three years as a post-Doc research assistant in a university. I had lost my interest in pure research and realized that I was much more suited to applied physics. My specialty at that time was lasers and electro-optics, topics that were rapidly entering into the defense industry at that time.
The research department in which I worked covered a wide range of applied sciences. In my section, our work was focused on the application of laser and electro-optic technology to anti-tank and anti-air missile systems. While I worked in both of these areas, and many others, I was particularly involved with anti-air systems.
The AA missile system we were building at that time was the Rapier Field Standard B (FSB). It consisted of a launcher mounting four missiles with a surveillance radar on top. The launcher could slew the missiles around the radar to the bearing of the detected target prior to firing.
Nearby the launcher was an optical tracker system that was used to track the target and guide the missile. It required that an operator acquire the target in this sight, track it, and fire the missile that was then guided by the optical sight to impact with the aircraft. The optical tracker could be augmented with a second tracking radar system that took over the duties of the operator to guide the missile to the target.
Having watched this process in action on the firing range it was an awesome sight. The missile would leave the launcher at supersonic speed within its own length and would be out of sight before I saw it move. Fortunately, they were programmed to miss the target drones otherwise we would quickly run out of expensive aircraft.
Our job was to perform the research investigations that would support the engineering required to upgrade and modernize this system. We were to investigate the use of lasers to perform ranging and as a replacement for the guidance microwave link. Additionally, we investigated the use of lasers, and electro-optic and thermal infra-red imagers to augment, replace, and automate the existing optical tracker system.
As a small and dedicated team, we worked hard and had a blast doing this work. We had the opportunity to operate the missile simulator and to attend and participate in many trials, including live fire trials as mentioned above.
I left the company before the new systems were produced but I recognize our fingerprints on the current versions of the system. It was a long time ago, more than forty years, but I still remember those times with fondness.
