Feature 3 | Weapons handling
Feature 3
CAMM missile looks to soft option for
vertical launch
Missile house MBDA UK is developing a new Soft Vertical Launch system as
part of its concept for a Common Anti-Air Modular Missile (CAMM) able
to meet the Future Local Area Air Defence System-Maritime (FLAADS [M])
requirements of the UK Ministry of Defence and the Royal Navy.
T
he FLAADS(M) system is intended The CAAM missile vision has evolved an evolution of the Royal Air Force’s
to yield a replacement for the UK’s from studies undertaken by MBDA that ASRAAM air-to-air missile.
current Seawolf shipborne point conceptualised a tri-service air defence The naval and land-based threat sets,
defence missile system from around 2018. missile and associated weapon system while not identical, have significant
Accordingly, it is intended for retrofit that could replace the British Army’s overlap. In the naval domain, there is a
to Type 23 frigates and, subsequently, ground-based Rapier short-range air requirement to defeat increasingly stealthy,
for installation from build on board the defence system, the Royal Navy’s Seawolf low-flying anti-ship missiles approaching
Future Surface Combatant (C1 variant) point defence missile system, and provide at both subsonic and supersonic speeds.
from about 2020. technology insertion opportunities for In addition, there is a need to counter
high-performance combat aircraft,
helicopters, unmanned air vehicles
(UAVs) and small surface craft.
On land, the threat is characterised
by attack helicopters, UAVs, stand-off
weapons and manned strike and close
support aircraft. A capability to interdict
land-based targets of opportunity has also
been studied (although it is acknowledged
that this should come at no cost to the core
air defence capability).
integrated technologies
The solution, as it exists today, is an
all-weather, local area defence missile
system drawing on the proven dynamics
of ASRAAM but embodying selected
new technologies and techniques in the
missile round and its launch sequence,
while maximising use of, and integration
with, legacy components as appropriate.
Furthermore, the missile itself would
be common for both shipborne and
land-based applications.
A key benefit of the CAMM missile
system in its naval FLAADS(M) incarnation
is that it takes into account the entire
weapon/ship infrastructure. For example,
a ship-launched CaMM will form part of
the UK’s projected Future local area air
defence system (Maritime). (photo: MBda)
Warship Technology May 2009 31
p31-32-33-34-35_WT_May09.indd 31 17/04/2009 15:21:06
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