The Polyphem was a proposed light-weight fibre-optic wire-guided surface-to-surface missile

Surface-to-surface missile

A surface-to-surface missile is a guided projectile launched from a hand-held, vehicle mounted, trailer mounted or fixed installation or from a ship. They are often powered by a rocket motor or sometimes fired by an explosive charge, since the launching platform is typically stationary or moving...

 with a range of 60 km.

It uses a sealed round

Sealed round

A sealed round is a munition which is typically stored in some kind of container , so that the munition does not require any sort of maintenance and is stored in this container right up until the point that it is used...

, a solid propellant booster rocket

Booster rocket

A booster rocket is either the first stage of a multi-stage launch vehicle, or else a strap-on rocket used to augment the core launch vehicle's takeoff thrust and payload capability. Boosters are generally necessary to launch spacecraft into Earth orbit or beyond...

 to launch the missile out of its canister to an initial height, so that the wings and control surfaces can unfold, and a more fuel economic turbojet cruise engine kicks in to propel the missile.

The missile can be programmed to follow a preset course, using GPS

Global Positioning System

The Global Positioning System is a space-based global navigation satellite system that provides location and time information in all weather, anywhere on or near the Earth, where there is an unobstructed line of sight to four or more GPS satellites...

 or inertial guidance. An infrared

Infrared

Infrared light is electromagnetic radiation with a wavelength longer than that of visible light, measured from the nominal edge of visible red light at 0.74 micrometres , and extending conventionally to 300 µm...

 seeker can be used to automatically pick a target and for the terminal guidance phase, but it is also possible to transfer the thermal images back to the launching platform via a 200 MBit/s

Bit rate

In telecommunications and computing, bit rate is the number of bits that are conveyed or processed per unit of time....

 data link provided by an optical fibre, and manually select the target.

The Polyphem program was started in 1994 by Germany

Germany

Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...

, France

France

The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...

 and Italy

Italy

Italy , officially the Italian Republic languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Italy's official name is as follows:;;;;;;;;), is a unitary parliamentary republic in South-Central Europe. To the north it borders France, Switzerland, Austria and...

. Italy later left the project.

A naval version, called Polyphem-S, was initially selected for the Braunschweig class corvette

Braunschweig class corvette

The K130 Braunschweig class is Germany's newest class of ocean-going corvettes. They supplement the Gepard class fast attack craft that are currently used.-Technical details:...

 as anti-ship

Anti-ship missile

Anti-ship missiles are guided missiles that are designed for use against ships and large boats. Most anti-ship missiles are of the sea-skimming type, many use a combination of inertial guidance and radar homing...

 and land-attack missile

Land-attack missile

A land-attack missile is a naval surface-to-surface missile that is capable of effectively attacking targets ashore, unlike specialised anti-ship missiles, which are optimized for striking other ships. Some dual-role missiles are suitable for both missions....

, but that has been cancelled.

The Polyphem program as a whole was canceled in 2003.

Polyphem is the German Name of Polyphemus

Polyphemus

Polyphemus is the gigantic one-eyed son of Poseidon and Thoosa in Greek mythology, one of the Cyclopes. His name means "much spoken of" or "famous". Polyphemus plays a pivotal role in Homer's Odyssey.-In Homer's Odyssey:...

, the cyclops in the Odyssey

Odyssey

The Odyssey is one of two major ancient Greek epic poems attributed to Homer. It is, in part, a sequel to the Iliad, the other work ascribed to Homer. The poem is fundamental to the modern Western canon, and is the second—the Iliad being the first—extant work of Western literature...

that got his eye stabbed out by Ulysses

Odysseus

Odysseus or Ulysses was a legendary Greek king of Ithaca and the hero of Homer's epic poem the Odyssey. Odysseus also plays a key role in Homer's Iliad and other works in the Epic Cycle....

.

The system is roughly comparable to the Serbian ALAS missile

ALAS missile

ALAS is a new Serbian long-range multipurpose guided missile system developed by the private company EdePro and sponsored by Yugoimport SDPR. The new system was developed for attacks on tanks, armored fighting vehicles, fortifications, commandposts, low-flying helicopters, coastal ships,...

.

Specifications

• Speed: 120—180 m/s
  Second
  The second is a unit of measurement of time, and is the International System of Units base unit of time. It may be measured using a clock....
  
   (around 430—650 km/h)
• Range: up to 60 km
• Altitude: 20 to 600 m above ground (variable)
• Missile mass: around 130 kg
  Kilogram
  The kilogram or kilogramme , also known as the kilo, is the base unit of mass in the International System of Units and is defined as being equal to the mass of the International Prototype Kilogram , which is almost exactly equal to the mass of one liter of water...
  
  
• Length: 2.70 m
• Warhead: up to 20 kg