DEU - BESYS

BESYS (Bewertungssystem)


Although Germany abandoned the international short-range anti-aircraft cruise missile development program ASRAAM in 1989 for financial reasons, research activities in this field did not stop in Germany. With the fall of the Iron Curtain and the reunification of West and East Germany, the last Soviet short-range R-73 anti-aircraft cruise missiles with infrared guidance systems fell into the hands of Luftwaffe specialists. Therefore, in the early 1990s, a program was initiated to compare these missiles with their West German (hence American) "counterparts" in the form of AIM-9L missiles. Thus, the BESYS container was created to "measure" the parameters of the guidance system of AIM-9L and R-73 missiles under flight conditions. The flight tests were conducted at the WTD-61 unit stationed at Manching. System qualification of the BESYS system was to be completed by the end of 1992. The carrier of the equipment was the RF-4E Phantom II aircraft. In tests involving ex-East German MiG-29, Su-22 and Norwegian F-16B missiles as "targets", the superiority of the AIM-9L and R-73 missile sensors. It was originally anticipated that the TELL would be used on the Sidewinder. However, it turned out that their current design, coupled with the new guidance system, would not result in a weapon system superior to the R-73 missiles. Development thus led to an entirely new missile, which became the IRIS-T.


The main supplier of the BESYS container was BGT (Bodensee Gerätetechnik), which was a German manufacturer of licensed Sidewinder.



Sources
1) Soldat und Technik, 1/1992
2) Lennox, D. (editor): Janes Air-Launched Weapons, Coulsdon, 2002
3) sistemadearmas.sites.uol.com.br