Aster

摘要

Aster is a new European air-de-fense missile that is being manufac-tured for both land and naval air defense missile systems. The pro-gram was initiated in the late 1970s to provide a system to replace the aging MIM-23 HAWK batteries still in use in Europe, and the shipboard Crotale and Standard. The Aster-based systems collec-tively were known as the Future Sur-face-to-Air Family (FSAF). Two variants of the missile are being pro-duced: the Aster-15 (15-km range) for naval applications and the As-ter-30 (30-km range) for land and na-val applications; the missiles are identical except for their first-stage boosters.