Скачать или смотреть M548 Tracked Rapier Missile launcher in Arena at War & Peace Show July 2011

M548 Tracked Rapier Missile Launcher

The first public showing of Tracked Rapier was at the 1983 Royal Tournament at Earls Court, (that years theme was, conveniently, artillery through the ages). The first Tracked Rapiers entered service with 11 (Sphinx) Air Defence Battery, of 22 Air Defence Regiment, Royal Artillery in 1983 in Napier Barracks near Dortmund.

After initially entering service, the Tracked Rapiers were upgraded several times to follow the upgrades being introduced to all Rapier systems. The latest version included a new helmet-mounted sight that allows the tactical controller to quickly slew the tracker onto the target while standing out of the other roof-mounted turret bustle.
Tracked rapier was retired in the late 1980s as the requirement for anti-air support to keep up with an armoured assault against the Warsaw Pact was defunct. However, the chiefs of staff involved in planning operation Desert Storm (Gulf War I) required anti-air units to accompany the Challenger equipped armoured regiments, and a handful of Tracked Rapiers were bought back from civilian collections and removed from display outside army camps and pressed back into service with the latest Rapier missile systems.

the launch unit was placed on the extreme rear of the cargo platform at the rear of the M548 carrier, and the tracking system placed inside the cabin at the front of the vehicle, projecting through the roof of one of the turret bustles.