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Eryx
Eryx was designed for use by forward infantry, providing them with a weapon effective against new types of armour to ranges up to 600m. The objectives during development were to use the most simple and compact solutions to obtain high penetration against all armour likely to be in service during the remainder of this century and beyond to have extreme precision, to be able to fire from enclosed spaces, and at the same time to keep the weight down to 12kg and the unit cost compatible with broad distribution at section level. Mass production began in 1991.
In 1989 it was announced that a Memorandum of Undertanding has been signed by France and Canada with the intention of producing Eryx as a co-operative venture.
To date, Canada has ordered 425 firing posts and 4,500 missles. Other nations that have ordered the Eryx include France, Norway an Brazil
The Eryx system consists of a missile prepacked in a container tube in which it is transported and stored and from which it is launched, plus a compact firing unit containing the ignition, detection and timing systems, together with a remote control. The missile can be emplaced and made ready to fire in less than 5 seconds. During flight (4.2 seconds to 600m) the firer is required only to keep the sight on the target. The missile carries an infra red beacon which is detected by the sight unit, inside which corrections are derived, producing steering commands sent to the missle via a wire link which is unspooled as the missle proceeds.
The application of a new concept, the direct thrust flight control, efficient even at low speed, allows launching to be achieved using a small propulsion unit. The missle can thus be used in confined spaces. After launch, the rocket motor accelerates to the flight speed of 300 m/s.
A MIRABEL thermal imager can be added to the Eryx launcher for firing at night or under poor visibility conditions.
The Mirabel thermal imager has been developed for the Eryx missile system by Thomson-CSF Optronique of Guyancourt, France and AlliedSignal Aerospace Canada Inc (ASAC), of Montreal, Canada. Mirabel's modular design allows it to be clipped on to the system's existing direct view optic sight without any need for boresight alignment. The thermal imager has a field of view of 8 x 6 degrees and it operates in the long-wave (8 - 12 microns) infrared spectral band. Weight is 3.5 kg.
