The Harpoon HeadQuarters Login: Password:    MIM-72 Chaparral
SAM    (official US Army photo)  M-48 (MIM-72) Chaparral
surface-to-air missile system  (United States)  Notes: The
Chaparral system was originally intended to only be an interim
system pending development of a more proper short-range SAM. Due
to lack of a suitable replacement, it went on to serve for
several decades in the US Army and longer abroad. In US Army
nomenclature, the whole set-up is designated M-48, consisting of
the M-730 vehicle and MIM-72 Chaparral missiles.  Project
development  This system started as a 1959 requirement by the US
Army’s Missile Command (MICOM) for a mobile air defense asset
suitable for FEBA (forward edge of the battle area) use. After a
half decade of failed projects, MICOM submitted an urgent
request for alternatives (the 1963 Interim Forward-Area Air
Defense study), specifically an off-she-shelf adaptation of an
existing AAM, the AIM-9 Sidewinder.  In August 1965, MICOM
determined that it would be feasible to ada