Roland

Quick Facts

Variants	Roland I Roland II Roland III MIM-115A Roland CAROL
Role and Mobility	Short-Range Air Defense; Road-Mobile
Interceptors and Range	Roland Missile I & II: Speed: 500 m/s Range: 6.2 km Roland Missile III: Speed: 620 m/s Range: 8.5 km
Sensors	Optical Sight 3D X-Band Surveillance Radar (25 km range) Tracking Radar (20 km range)
Targets	Air Threats at Extremely Low-to-Medium Altitudes
Status/Exports	Operational; France, Norway, United States (retired), Argentina, Brazil (retired), Nigeria, Qatar, Spain, Venezuela, and Germany (retired)
Designer/Producer	EADS Euromissile

Overview

The Roland provides short-range air defense against low flying air threats. It was initially designed for the French and German militaries to protect mobile field formations and fixed, high-value targets.[i]The system uses the Roland missile interceptor, which has been upgraded alongside improvements to the launchers. Surveillance and tracking are conducted with the use of dedicated radars, but missile guidance is through an optical sight.[ii]Due to the optical missile guidance, the system is designed for use only in daylight.[iii]

There have been many variants of the Roland system. They are:

Roland I: The original clear-weather, daylight only system.

Roland II: The most popular variant of the Roland, with all-weather and day/night capability. Roland II replaces the missile guidance role of the operator in Roland I with a special tracking radar. The radar tracks both the missile and the target, relaying course correction information via a beacon on the rear of the missile.[iv]

Roland III: An upgrade to the Roland II launcher, increasing the number of ready to fire missiles from two to four. The upgrade was developed in tandem with the development of the Roland III missiles.[v]

MIM-115A: A United States variant of the Roland II system, the MIM-115A was a short-lived program, with development beginning in 1974 and termination of the program in 1981. Production in low rates began in 1979, with only one battalion of the Army National Guard operating the system; all of its Roland systems were retired in 1988.[vi]

Roland Carol: An air liftable shelter variant of the Roland. It entered production in 1995 with systems delivered to the French Army and the German Air Force.[vii]

Strategic Implications

Advancements in both the Roland missiles and the systems introduced longer ranges and more capabilities. The continuous upgrades that were made to the Roland allowed the system to remain a reliable and effective air defense system against a variety of evolving air threats.