The Bundeswehr, Rheinmetall and the Israel Aerospace Industries’ (IAI) ELTA Group have successfully completed testing of the Multi Ammunition Softkill System (MASS) naval countermeasure system and NavGuard ship protection system.
During the trials, which were conducted under the guidance of the German Navy in Howachter Bay in the Baltic, MILAN antitank missiles were fired by the 2 Company, the German Army’s 92 Mechanised Infantry Battalion, at the German Navy’s mine warfare ship, HL 352 Auerbach, in Hohwachter Bay.
The warship was equipped with Rheinmetall’s MASS system, specifically the MASS_ISS Integrated Sensor Suite version featuring various sensors for detecting radar, laser and electro-optical threats.
The NavGuard aboard the ship successfully detected the passive MILAN guided missile upon its launch and countermeasures were initiated by MASS to destroy the incoming missile.
The trials, based on an asymmetric warfare scenario, were intended to protect naval units from the threat posed by land-based forces armed with passive guided missiles.
Rheinmetall’s MASS_ISS with integrated NavGuard is expected to be ready for full-scale production by 2015.
Designed to cope with new maritime and land-based threats to increase ship survivability, the ELM-2222S NavGuard lightweight, modular, self-protection system features a digital phased-array radar-based missile approach warning system (MAWS) to automatically detect, classify and verify threats, and consequently triggers the ships self-defence systems.
Image: German Navy’s HL 352 Auerbach ship fires missiles. Photo: copyright Rheinmetall AG 2014.
