A few days ago, ten NATO defense ministers launched a joint declaration of intent on a multinational initiative to develop innovative ground-based air defense (GBAD) capabilities for very short, short and medium ranges. At the same time, a separate group of four NATO nations launched a further declaration of intent to develop C-RAM defense systems against artillery (rockets) and mortar shells approaching at close range. The defense ministers of Belgium, Denmark, Germany, Hungary, Italy, Latvia, the Netherlands, Slovenia, Spain and the United Kingdom signed in the capitals of the participating nations on the sidelines of the NATO defense ministers’ meeting.
The project is defined as “implementing a systematic modular approach to provide participating allied forces with versatile, scalable solutions that enable them to create threat-tailored ‘GBAD packages’ against the full spectrum of very short to medium-range threats.” Such an approach is expected to significantly strengthen the ability of participating allies to seamlessly integrate individual national modules into deployed multinational GBAD force packages. The project is part of a growing portfolio of NATO-supported multinational High Visibility Projects (HVPs) in response to the challenges identified as most important to the Alliance. “This innovative, modular approach will lead to a dramatic increase in operational flexibility, scalability and interoperability between ground-based air defense forces,” said NATO Deputy Secretary General Mircea Geoană (see video below). https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TDdjOpaf5UI&feature=emb_logo In addition, the ministers of Germany, Greece, Hungary and the UK have launched a new multinational NATO-HVP project to meet the growing challenges in the field of immediately deployable mobile defensive missiles against small targets such as rockets, artillery shells and mortar shells, commonly referred to as C-RAM (Counter-Rocket, Artillery and Mortar). C-RAM capabilities are seen as the key to effective solutions for protecting allied forces from rocket, artillery and mortar threats and for the effective protection of personnel, facilities and equipment. NATO Secretary General Mircea Geoană said: “This multinational and thus more cost-effective C-RAM initiative will significantly increase interoperable capabilities for high-intensity operations while enhancing the protection of personnel, facilities and equipment against rocket and mortar artillery attacks and conventional air threats at close range.”
The successful defense against RAM munitions – interestingly, drones are not mentioned here – is very important for the protection of troops and facilities (such as camps, airfields, …) in operational areas. However, this type of defense poses an enormous technical challenge. Currently, the available cannon systems – such as Rheinmetall’s Sky Shield or Raytheon’s Phalanx – and missiles are only capable of this to a limited extent and at a high cost. The difficulties arise, for example, from the high velocities of the incoming artillery shells, the low signatures of mortar shells, the required engagement distances of between 1,000 and 3,000 meters and the high approach and engagement speeds. It can therefore be strongly assumed that the focus for these initiatives will be on directed energy weapons, i.e. laser weapons and short-range radars, which are particularly suitable here. As the engagement process must be completed in just a few seconds, a high laser power and a high beam focus on the fast-moving (approaching) target is required.
In Germany, both MBDA and Rheinmetall presented prototypes of high-energy laser weapon systems a few years ago (for a report see here), which originated from a development order from the German government. However, no procurement has yet taken place, and both companies have now pooled their respective capacities. High-energy lasers offer the advantage of unlimited ammunition without significantly increasing costs; the disadvantage lies in the energy required. For these reasons, such systems were initially only introduced on ships by the USA, for example.
Further information: A German-language introduction to the philosophy of artillery detection radars can be found in this product folder from the New York manufacturer SRC.
