Page 67 - AA 2018_11

NASAMS

“It’s integrated with the fire
distribution centre, so fundamentally
you drive up, you extend the mast
and exercise your data link with the
fire distribution centre, and you are
operating and the package remotely
hides. So, you are going to end up with
a very good radar combination, a very
good passive sensor, and of course
the potential of two different types of
effectors.”
The re-packaging and integration
work for the MTS-A will be completed
in Australia.
“We’re not creating a new sensor,
but the application is unique to
Australia,” said Ward.
To conduct this integration work
as well as ongoing development work
on this and other programs, Raytheon
plans to establish an integration
laboratory in Adelaide.
Wider opportunities
The selection of Raytheon Australia
as prime system integrator on the
short-range ground-based air-defence
program opens up possibilities for
common elements from the company’s
stable or those of its partners to be
adapted to the other ADF programs.
“What we understand is, the inner
tier is the short-range GBAD which is
LAND 19, the middle tier is medium-
range GBAD which is AIR 6500, and
the US HMMVV, while the canister then the outer tier will fundamentally
launcher would be carried by the be provided by the Air Warfare
Army’s new Rheinmetall MAN HX77 Destroyers and possibly other things,”
trucks. Army is considering both Ward said.
options. “While the LAND 19 solution is
“The HML mounted on the back being delivered for Army, of course
of a Hawkei vehicle would give Army its command and control has to be
greater mobility than they would integrated into the ADF’s wider IAMD
get out of a canister launcher, but environment,” he noted.
the canister also has a number of “As it stands at the moment,
advantages. A mix of both is optimal,” AIR 6500 Phase 2 will be a medium-
Ward said. range ground-based air and missile
The proposed enhanced NASAMS defence system which is currently
configuration’s primary sensor will planned for Air Force.”
be a CEA Technologies phased array Raytheon has several other
radar. products in its portfolio which
“It sits on a Hawkei vehicle, so it’s would be considered for AIR 6500,
much smaller than what you would ability to take its architecture and The CEA Tactical Radar, or including the previously-mentioned
have seen previously,” Ward said. repackage it very rapidly and very cost- CEATAC, mounted on a Hawkei AMRAAM-ER which could be
CEA Technologies unveiled its effectively to deliver key capability.” vehicle at the recent Land added to LAND 19 with the MkII
prototype land-based CEA Tactical Another key element of the Forces expo. andrew mclaughlin cannister solution. It also has the
Radar, or CEATAC, mounted on a enhanced NASAMS configuration is the combat-proven Patriot surface-to-air
Hawkei vehicle, at the recent Land integration of a passive MTS-A electro- missile system which has a genuine
Forces expo in Adelaide. optical infrared (EO/IR) sensor with the anti-ballistic missile capability and
“From my perspective, this is just system. has been integrated with numerous
an excellent example of Australian “We’ve completed the design for sensors including a new Raytheon-
industry contributing in a way we the EO/IR sensor on the back of the developed Gallium nitride (GaN)
would envisage for a sovereign Hawkei,” Ward said. AESA radar which could easily make
capability,” Merv Davis, CEO of CEA “The sensor will operate in a way for a CEA system.
Technologies told ADBR at Land ground mode, so we’ll package it in a That would offer a capability
Forces. Tricon container and mount it on the a world away from the old
“More broadly, it highlights CEA’s back of the Hawkei. Bloodhound.
NOVEMBER 2018 67