AAM-2 Sonderbotschaft
| File:AAM-2 Sonderbotschaft.png | |
| Type | Short to medium-range air-to-air missile |
|---|---|
| Place of origin | |
| Designer | Javelin Industries / Šlomxala Arsenal |
| Manufacturer | |
| Guidance system | Infra-red homing |
Background
By 1695 AN the Second Elwynnese Civil War had cruelly shown up the limitations of the AAM-1 Sonderwang, an obsolete design intended for use against obsolescent aircraft. Reports of the missile being unable to maintain a lock on target after being launched, of being out manoeuvred, and even of being outrun, were legion. As a standard short-range air-to-air missile of the Raspur Pact the Sonderwang would have been barely adequate against the backwards air fleets of the USSO but as reports out of the aircraft design bureaus of Calbion, Sanama, and Nouvelle Alexandrie, made plain the era of technological stagnation which had characterised the 17th Century after Norton was drawing to a close. A new solution for air to air combat would need to be found.
Benacian development hell
The Sonderwang was only ever intended as as a stopgap short-range air to air missile, and work soon began in 1675 AN to develop a scaled down version of the S-2 Standard Missile for mass production as a replacement. Budgetary problems afflicting the Sonderbotschaft program during the 1680s, combined with the assessed adequacy of existing missile systems against the majority of Bassarid and Jingdaoese airframes then in service, meant that the lifespan of the Sonderwang as an operational air-to-air missile was extended into the 1690's.
As previously noted, the limitations of the Sonderwang were by this stage widely known, and the design bureau of the Šlomxala Arsenal urgently began to cast around for new sources of finance and technical support to a replacement forward. Sanama had hitherto been the first port of call for UGB scientists, a relatively stable and liberal state by Benacian standards that had fostered a large and dynamic defence sector in the years since the Kalirion Fracture. However, it was apparent by the late 1690's that Sanama was entering into a new period of political instability, that would ultimately culminate in its own civil war and fragmentation. New partners would have to be sought.
