Target Towing

The target towing version of the F 406 has been developed to provide ground-to-air or air-to-air firing practice for gunners.

Such mission aims at:

• Saving money by reduction of the training time and ammunition consumption
• Increasing rapidly both accuracy and efficiency of the gunners and the weapon system operator
  The miss distance between a supersonic projectile and a sleeve target is measured in real time using an acoustical scoring system.

Thanks to the cargo door the target towing equipment can be easily removed from the cabin and the aircraft be reconfigured for transport missions (Officers, troops or freight), pilots training or visual surveillance.

Mission equipment:

• Hydraulic winch in cabin + articulated guidance arm,
• Monitoring camera,
• Hydraulic cooling radiator for allowing the target to be deployed at 8 m/s,
• Target miss distance indicator,
• Sleeve target towed up to 7,000 meters from the aircraft.

Crew (typical):

• 1 Pilot,
• 1 Operator,
• Mission time: up to 6 hours.

In operation with French Army and South Korean Navy.