What's so smart about the Icebreaker missile

Israel's Rafael is unveiling its new Icebreaker air-to-surface missile at the 2022 Van Paolo International Airshow in the UK, a so-called "fifth-generation weapon" capable of striking targets at a range of up to 300 kilometers. targets within a range of 300 kilometers.

The predecessor to the Icebreaker was a missile called the Wavebreaker, which was demonstrated by Israel. "Launched from the sea or from a land-based vehicle, the Wavebreaker is less than 4 meters long, about 350 millimeters in diameter, has a compact body, is powered by a turbojet engine and a solid rocket booster, and travels at high subsonic speeds to deliver surgical precision strikes outside of a 300-kilometer defense zone.

The structure of the projectile body is aerodynamically optimized, with an irregular front, a polygonal design for the head guidance window, and a cylindrical tail, which reduces air resistance while lowering the radar reflective cross-section with an irregular cross-section, and the missile's air intake is designed as an inwardly recessed type, arranged underneath the projectile body to improve the shape and stealth capability, making the missile have excellent stealth performance as a whole.

The Wavebreaker weighs less than 400 kilograms and carries a 113-kilogram armor-piercing/fragmentation multipurpose warhead, which can destroy ships comparable to a frigate in a single hit. The missile has infrared homing and automatic target recognition capabilities, and can be launched day or night and in all weather conditions.

Rafael said in a statement that it is a "force multiplier" for naval and artillery forces, designed to overcome the challenges of modern warfare. The missile is already in the Israeli Navy's SAAR6 corvettes.

The Icebreaker missile can be thought of as an air-launched version of the Wavebreaker, which has been described as the "smartest" missile. "The Icebreaker is called the "smartest" missile by the Israeli side because it employs artificial intelligence and decision-making algorithms, just like the Wavebreaker. It is fitted with an on-board computer software system that is capable of deep learning using artificial intelligence, which enables scenario matching based on big data.

Additionally, the Icebreaker is equipped with an advanced infrared imaging (IIR) guide head, which has the advantages of high guidance accuracy, strong anti-jamming capability, good concealment, compact structure, mobility and flexibility, etc. The missile is not only capable of completing automatic target capture and automatic target identification, but also of covertly traversing a variety of terrains and accurately identifying targets in a complex electromagnetic environment. The missile is not only capable of automatic target capture and automatic target identification, but also can stealthily traverse various terrains in a complex electromagnetic environment and accurately hit and destroy the target after accurate target identification.

At the same time, the missile has the ability to abort the strike mid-flight and the battle damage assessment (BDA) function. In addition, the missile's data chain supports real-time "human-in-the-loop" decision-making and tactical updating, and it can select the attack time and location based on the predetermined attack plan, according to the heading point, azimuth, impact angle and aiming point, and can transfer to different targets during the navigation phase. It can transfer to different targets during the navigation phase, and has the ability of multi-directional and synchronized attack.

Because of the passive guidance system, the Icebreaker has a strong anti-jamming capability, and the missile can conduct round-the-clock operations in an environment where satellite navigation (GPS/GPSS) is denied within a range of 300 kilometers.

The Icebreaker is an export-oriented missile that can be launched from a wide range of warplanes, including Sweden's Gripen, the U.S. F-16, South Korea's FA-50, Italy's M-346 trainer, and France's Puma. France's Puma helicopters, and does not require special preparation, such as the Hawk can carry six "Icebreaker" missiles, the F-16 can carry seven.