Defense Technology International - January/February 2008 - (Page 8) AROUND THE WORLD NEWS BRIEFS MILLENNIUM MILESTONE The Royal Danish Navy successfully test fired its new Rheinmetall-supplied Oerlikon Millennium 35-mm. naval gun systems, installed on the flexible combat support ship HDMS Absalon, the supplier reports. Surface and air targets were engaged during the firings, which occurred in November. The firings were part of acceptance tests off the Danish coast. Both practice and war stock Ahead ammunition, each made by subsidiary Oerlikon Contraves in Switzerland, were used. Absalon is equipped with two Millennium guns, one forward and one aft. The Danish navy is the launch customer for series production of the weapon, having ordered six guns in 2004 with an option for another four. The final sea acceptance test for the guns (and for Absalon’s 127-mm. Mk 45 gun, supplied by BAE Systems in the U.S.) is planned for late March or early April. The multimission Millennium system fires RHEINMETALL Ahead ammunition from a revolver gun at a rate of 1,000 rounds/min. Each round contains 152 tungsten sub-projectiles that are dispersed into the flight path of a missile, or overhead and down onto a surface target based on a time-fuzing code. The code is programmed into the round when it leaves the barrel (DTI December 2007, p. 35). I ISRAEL SEEKS MODIFIED LCS U.S. NAVY LOW-COST STUNNER The new Stunner missile, jointly developed by Raytheon and Rafael, is claimed to provide a balance of economy, flexibility and agility that could make it a “game-changer” in air- and missile-defense systems. The weapon is designed to engage missile and rocket threats at ranges of 70-200 km. (43-124 mi.). Stunner uses a multi-pulse rocket motor, agile steering system and combined electro-optical/radio-frequency seeker, which works in all weather conditions. The “fire-andforget” operating system means multiple Stunners can engage targets along threat trajectories, with minimal cueing from sensors, ensuring a high rate of fire, even during saturation attacks. The missile will utilize a booster designed by ATK, and a multi-mode seeker and multi-pulse rocket motor from Rafael. The system could rely on the IAI/Elta Green Pine missile-warning radar, or Rafael’s new Multi-Mission Radar. I NOAM ESHEL Lockheed Martin is conducting a nine-month combat system configuration study under a $2.3-million Foreign Military Sales contract to refine the design of the Littoral Combat Ship-International (LCS-I), tailored to meet a requirement from Israel. The Israeli navy wants two multimission vessels based on the U.S. Navy’s LCS 1 Freedom-class hull design (under construction in photo), but fitted with a customized combat management system 8 (CMS), weapons and electronics package. The study focuses on the integration of Lockheed Martin’s Combatss-21 CMS, using open-architecture software, with an Israeli navy command and control system. It is also examining the possibility of installing either Lockheed Martin’s SPY-1F or Israel Aerospace Industries/Elta EL/ M-2248 MF-STAR radar as the main above-water sensor. The 3,000-ton ship will be 115.3 meters (378 ft.) long, have a 17.5-meter beam and do more than 40 kt. Israeli navy weapons will include a 16-cell Lockheed Martin Mk 41 vertical launching system firing Raytheon SM-2 air-defense missiles, 32cell IAI/Rafael Barak-8 air- and missile-defense system, at least two Rafael Typhoon remotecontrolled weapon mounts, one or two helicopters and an electronic warfare suite. The ship may also get up to 16 Harpoon anti-ship missiles, and Mk 32 torpedo tubes. For the main forward gun, there is a choice between a Raytheon Phalanxtype close-in weapon system or an Oto Melara 76-mm./62-cal. Super Rapid gun. I DEFENSE TECHNOLOGY INTERNATIONAL JANUARY/FEBRUARY 2008 www.aviationweek.com/dti http://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/aw/dti1207/index.php?startpage=35 http://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/aw/dti1207/index.php?startpage=35 http://www.aviationweek.com/dti
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