The Roland is a surface-to-air guided missile produced by the Franco-German firm Euromissile for the French and German armies. The Roland missile is a two-stage solid propellant unit, which measures 2.4 m long and weighs 66.5 kg including the 6.5 kg multiple hollow-charge fragmentation warhead containing 3.5 kg of explosive detonated by impact or proximity fuses. The 65 projectile charges have a lethal radius of 6 meters. Cruising speed is Mach 1.6. The missile is delivered in a sealed container which is also the launch tube. Each launcher carries two launch tubes with 8 more inside the vehicle or shelter with automatic reloading in 10 seconds.
The Roland system can operate in optical or radar mode and can switch between these modes during an engagement. A pulse-doppler search radar with a range of 15–18 km detects the target which can then be tracked either by the tracking radar or an optical tracker. The Roland was designed to engage enemy air targets flying at speeds of up to Mach 1.3 at altitudes between 20 meters and 5,500 m with a minimum effective range of 500 m and a maximum of 6,300 m. For defense of fixed sites such as airfields the shelter Roland can be integrated in the CORAD (Co-ordinated Roland Air Defense) system which can include a surveillance radar, a Roland Co-ordination Center, 8 Roland fire units and up to 8 guns.
Bundeswehr Roland Missile in Action (Video)
