Rheinmetall Defence Combines Sensors and Effectors to Protect Ships
21 February 2007
Navies nowadays face a much wider range of operational responsibilities: in addition to their traditional tasks, they need to be able to engage targets on shore, provide air defence cover, combat seaborne terrorists and protect civilian shipping from piracy.
Owing to the variety of new threats the ability to network sensors and effectors is becoming increasingly important. By integrating sensors and effectors into a ship's command and weapon engagement system, Rheinmetall's approach to force protection at sea assures a steady flow of real-time tactical data and extremely swift engagement of targets.
Combining tried-and-tested effectors, reconnaissance, surveillance and C4I technologies from Rheinmetall Defence and its partners, this 'system of systems' presents a vital advantage: the comprehensive networking of all components.
In the configuration on display, Rheinmetall's Fast Infra-Red Search and Track sensor, or FIRST, teamed with the company's MSP500 multi-sensor platform, forms an effective sensor-system for long-range reconnaissance and target identification. FIRST provides 360° coverage of aerial targets such as UAVs, cruise missiles and helicopters, as well as sea and land targets.
Designed for automatic-target tracking, the MSP500 can serve as the fire control unit for the Millennium naval gun. The two sensors, FIRST and MSP, operate in the passive mode, meaning that they are virtually undetectable and can thus complement or replace radar systems.
For medium-range search, detection, acquisition and tracking operations, Rheinmetall's multi-mode X-band X-TAR 3D / M target-acquisition radar is the ideal solution. It supplies a three-dimensional air and surface picture, including digital tracking data for cueing fire-control systems at ranges of up to 50km.
When these sensor systems detect approaching targets, the data is submitted to the MSP500, whose command and control functions classify and identify them. After target verification the selected targets are assigned to lethal weapon systems like the 35mm Millennium naval gun, which can engage fixed-wing aircraft and helicopters, unmanned air vehicles, and small and large vessels, as well as targets onshore and near the banks of navigable rivers.
The advanced short-range air-defence system Asrad Navy provides another opportunity for the effective engagement of target at sea and on shore as part of the network. Originally designed for short-range air defence on land, Rheinmetall Defence's Asrad Navy is compatible with infrared and laser-guided missiles and equipped with an infrared search and command sensor.
Depending on the threat environment, selected targets can also be countered with non-lethal systems such as the MASS decoy system, a naval countermeasures system which offers unique protection from advanced sensor-guided missiles.
Rheinmetall Defence has taken up the great challenge of today, breaking with the traditional platform-centric approach to defence systems and proposing fully integrated systems of sensors and effectors that detect targets and enable highly-effective coordinated target engagement.
