Nimrod has a semi-active laser guidance system, that operates day or night. Its flight trajectory can be set below obscuring cloud layers, while a forward reconnaissance scout team uses a laser designator to direct it from up to 26 km (16 mi).
Nimrod may be installed on a variety of towed launchers, light combat vehicle launchers, helicopters, and fixed-wing aircraft. The primary helicopter launch platform for the Nimrod in the Israel Defense Forces is a modified Sikorsky CH-53 Sea Stallion helicopter. The launching vehicle or aircraft may fire up to 4 Nimrods at once from a single pack.
Nimrod allows a gunner to pre-select a flight trajectory mode. This can be direct trajectory, high cruisetrajectory or low cruise trajectory, the cruise altitude being constant and between 300–1,500 m (980–4,920 ft).
Mid-course guidance is provided by an inertial navigation system, and terminal guidance by a semi-active laser homing seeker. The target can be illuminated either by a ground-based or airborne laser designator.
The gimballed and stabilised seeker head acquires, tracks and homes in on its target using localised proportional navigation. It is said to have a view angle of more than 30°. The seeker has a search area 5 km (3.1 mi) wide and deep. In the terminal flight phase, the weapon adopts a dive angle of approximately 45° to strike an armoured target on the thinner, more vulnerable upper surfaces.
The missile is stored in a sealed canister which also acts as the launcher. Total weight of the missile and canister is 150 kg (330 lb). It has five main sections: seeker, guidance and control, warhead, solid-propellant rocket motor, and servo. It is roll-stabilised in flight. Time to come into action at a launch site is less than 3 minutes; there is no need to survey the site for alignment or levelling, nor does it require a direct line of sight to a target. The weapon can be fired in single-round, ripple, or salvo modes.
Nimrod 2 – A dual guidance, laser and Global Positioning System (GPS), homing missile, with a range of 26 km (16 mi), and a mobile launcher. The warhead is 14 kg (31 lb), and the missile supports various warheads for a variety of targets. This missile is well suited to rapid response and for coastal defence.
Nimrod 3 – An extended variant of Nimrod 2. The missile has a range of 50 km (31 mi) with 50 kg (110 lb) warhead. It supports various warheads for a wide range of targets, and has a mobile launcher.
Nimrod SR – A short-range (8 km (5.0 mi)) variant that can be fired from ground and airborne platforms.[1]
