Close-in weapon system
Encyclopedia
Navy
A navy is the branch of a nation's armed forces principally designated for naval and amphibious warfare; namely, lake- or ocean-borne combat operations and related functions...
shipboard point-defense weapon for detecting and destroying at short range incoming anti-ship missile
Anti-ship missile
Anti-ship missiles are guided missiles that are designed for use against ships and large boats. Most anti-ship missiles are of the sea-skimming type, many use a combination of inertial guidance and radar homing...
s and enemy aircraft which have penetrated the outer defenses.
Nearly all classes of modern warship
Warship
A warship is a ship that is built and primarily intended for combat. Warships are usually built in a completely different way from merchant ships. As well as being armed, warships are designed to withstand damage and are usually faster and more maneuvrable than merchant ships...
are equipped with some kind of CIWS device.
Gun systems
A gun based CIWS usually consists of a combination of radars, computers, and multiple barrelMultiple Barrel Firearm
A Multiple barrel firearm is a firearm of any type with more than one barrel, usually to increase the rate of fire/hitting probability and to reduce barrel erosion/overheating.-Definition:...
rapid-fire medium-calibre guns placed on a rotating gun mount. Examples of gun based CIWS products in operation are:
- AK-630AK-630The AK-630 is a Soviet fully automatic naval close-in weapon system based on a six-barreled 30 mm Gatling gun. It is mounted in an enclosed automatic turret and directed by radar and television detection and tracking. The system's primary purpose is defense against anti-ship missiles and other...
- DARDODARDODARDO is a Close-in weapon system built by the Italian companies Breda and Oto Melara. It is composed of two Breda-built Bofors 40 mm firing high explosive shells, a fire-control radar and a fire-control system...
- Denel 35mm Dual Purpose GunDenel 35mm Dual Purpose GunThe Denel 35mm Dual Purpose Gun is a close-in weapon system for warships made in South Africa by Denel Land Systems. It is currently in service on the Valour class frigates of the South African Navy.-Role:...
- Goalkeeper CIWSGoalkeeper CIWSGoalkeeper is a Dutch close-in weapon system introduced in 1979 and in use , which primarily defends ships against incoming missiles and ballistic shells. This system consists of an autocannon and an advanced radar which in typically six seconds detects incoming fire, determines its trajectory,...
- Kashtan CIWSKashtan CIWSThe Kashtan Close-in weapon system is a modern naval air defence gun-missile system deployed by the Russian Navy.It is found on the aircraft carrier Admiral Kuznetsov, Kirov class battlecruisers, Neustrashimy class, People's Liberation Army Navy Sovremenny class destroyers and Indian Talwar...
- Meroka CIWSMeroka CIWSThe Meroka CIWS is a Spanish Navy 12 barrelled 20 mm CIWS, using twelve Oerlikon 20 mm/120 guns mounted in 2 rows of 6 guns each. The system's primary purpose is defence against anti-ship missiles, and other precision guided weapons. However it can also be employed against aircraft, ships...
- Myriad CIWSMyriad CIWSMyriad CIWS was a twin 7 barrelled, 25 mm Gatling gun CIWS developed by a consortium including Oto Melara. The system's primary purpose, had it ever gone into production, would have been defense against anti-ship missiles, and other precision guided weapons....
- Oerlikon Millennium 35 mm Naval Revolver Gun SystemOerlikon Millennium 35 mm Naval Revolver Gun SystemThe Oerlikon Millennium 35mm Naval Gun System is a Close-in weapon system designed by Oerlikon for mounting on ships. It is based on the new Oerlikon 35 mm revolver cannon land based Air defense system, and uses AHEAD ammunition...
- Phalanx CIWSPhalanx CIWSThe Phalanx CIWS is an anti-ship missile defense system. It is a close-in weapon system and was designed and manufactured by the General Dynamics Corporation, Pomona Division...
- Sea ZenithSea ZenithSea Zenith is an advanced four-barrelled 25 mm CIWS used by the Turkish Navy on their MEKO 200 frigates, like the Barbaros and Yavuz classes. It was developed in the 1980s by Oerlikon Contraves around their KBB gun and manufactured in Switzerland...
- Type 730 CIWSType 730 CIWSThe Type 730 is a Chinese seven-barrelled 30 mm Gatling gun CIWS. It has a PLA-N designation H/PJ12. It is mounted in an enclosed automatic turret and directed by radar, and electro-optical tracking systems...
Limitations of gun systems
- Short range: The maximum effective range of 30-mm gun systems is about 4500 m; systems with lighter projectiles have even shorter range. The expected real-world kill-distance of an incoming anti-ship missile is about 500 m or less, still close enough to possibly cause damage on the ship's sensor or communication arrays. This makes the timeframe for interception relatively short; for supersonic missiles moving at 1500 m/s it is approximately one-third of a second.
- Limited kill probability: even if the missile is hit and damaged, it may not be enough to destroy it or change its course enough to prevent it or fragments of it from hitting its intended target, particularly as the interception distance is short. This is especially true if the gun fires kinetic-energy-only projectiles.
- Guns can only fire at one target at a time; switching targets may take up to one second for training the gun.
- A gun must predict the target's course and aim at the predicted position. Modern anti-ship missiles make intentional erratic moves before impact, reducing the probability of being hit by unguided projectiles.
Comparison with current CIWS
 AK-630AK-630 The AK-630 is a Soviet fully automatic naval close-in weapon system based on a six-barreled 30 mm Gatling gun. It is mounted in an enclosed automatic turret and directed by radar and television detection and tracking. The system's primary purpose is defense against anti-ship missiles and other... |
 Phalanx CIWSPhalanx CIWS The Phalanx CIWS is an anti-ship missile defense system. It is a close-in weapon system and was designed and manufactured by the General Dynamics Corporation, Pomona Division... |
 Goalkeeper CIWSGoalkeeper CIWS Goalkeeper is a Dutch close-in weapon system introduced in 1979 and in use , which primarily defends ships against incoming missiles and ballistic shells. This system consists of an autocannon and an advanced radar which in typically six seconds detects incoming fire, determines its trajectory,... |
|
|---|---|---|---|
| Weight | 9114 kg (20,092.9 lb) | 6200 kg (13,668.7 lb) | 9902 kg (21,830.2 lb) |
| Armament | 30 mm (1.2 in) 6 barreled GSh-6-30 Gatling Gun | 20 mm (0.78740157480315 in) 6 barreled M61A1 Vulcan Gatling Machine Gun | 30 mm (1.2 in) 7 barreled GAU-8 Gatling Gun |
| Rate of Fire | 5000 rounds per minute | 4500 rounds per minute | 4200 rounds per minute |
| Range | 4000 m (13,123.4 ft) | 3600 m (11,811 ft) | 2000 m (6,561.7 ft) |
| Ammunition storage | 2000 rounds | 1550 rounds | 1190 rounds |
| Muzzle velocity | 900 m (2,952.8 ft) per second | 1100 m (3,608.9 ft) per second | 1109 m (3,638.5 ft) per second |
| Elevation | -12 to +88 degrees | -25 to +85 degrees | -25 to +85 degrees |
| Traverse | 360 degrees | -150 to +150 degrees | 360 degrees |
Missile systems
.jpg)
After an inertial guidance phase, a CIWS missile relies on infra-red, passive radar
Passive radar
Passive radar systems encompass a class of radar systems that detect and track objects by processing reflections from non-cooperative sources of illumination in the environment, such as commercial broadcast and communications signals...
/ESM or semi-active radar
Semi-active radar homing
Semi-active radar homing, or SARH, is a common type of missile guidance system, perhaps the most common type for longer-range air-to-air and surface-to-air missile systems. The name refers to the fact that the missile itself is only a passive detector of a radar signal – provided by an external ...
terminal guidance, or a combination of these. The ESM-mode is particularly useful since most long-range anti-ship missiles use radar to home in on their targets. Some systems allow the launch platform to send course-correction commands to the missile in the inertial guidance phase.
Examples include:
- 9K33 Osa (SA-N-4 Gecko) missile, used by the Russian Navy is stored and fired from TELARs(Transporter erector launcher and radar) on various Russian ships.
- 9K331 (SA-N-9 Gauntlet) missile, used by the Russian Navy, it is stored and fired from Vertical launching systemVertical Launching SystemA vertical launching system is a system for holding and firing missiles on surface ships and submarines used by many navies around the world. Each VLS system consists of a number of cells, which can hold one or more missiles ready for firing...
s of various ships. It along with the Tor missile system is the first air-defense system designed from ground up to intercept precision guided munitions like the AGM-86 ALCMAGM-86 ALCMThe Boeing AGM-86 ALCM is a U.S. subsonic air-launched cruise missile built by Boeing Company and operated by the United States Air Force. The missiles were developed to increase the effectiveness and survivability of Boeing B-52H Stratofortress bombers... - 9M311 (SA-N-11 Grisom) missile, used by the Russian and ChinesePeople's Liberation Army NavyThe People's Liberation Army Navy is the naval branch of the People's Liberation Army , the military of the People's Republic of China. Until the early 1990s, the navy performed a subordinate role to the PLA Land Forces. Since then, it has undergone rapid modernisation...
navies as part of the KashtanKashtanKashtan is surname of:* Dror Kashtan , Israeli footballer and manager* William Kashtan , general secretary of the Communist Party of Canada- See also :* Kashtan CIWS * Kasztanka* Castanea* Kastania...
gun-missile system. - Barak SAMBarak SAMBarak is an Israeli surface-to-air missile designed to be used as a point-defense missile system on warships, defending against aircraft, anti-ship missiles, and UAVs.-Barak I:...
, an Israeli point defence missile system also used by Indian Navy. - Crotale-NGCrotale missileThe Crotale EDIR is an all-weather short-range anti-air missile, which can be used to intercept low-flight anti-ship missiles and aircraft...
- HQ-7HQ-7The HongQi 7 or HQ-7 is a short-range air defense missile. The missile is deployed on both ships and land-based vehicles. China revealed the export version, FM-80, in the 1989 Dubai Aerospace Show...
missile, a Chinese missile system, standard for all ships. - RIM-116 Rolling Airframe MissileRIM-116 Rolling Airframe MissileThe RIM-116 Rolling Airframe Missile is a small, lightweight, infrared homing surface-to-air missile in use by the American, German, South Korean, Greek, Turkish, Saudi and Egyptian navies. It was intended originally and used primarily as a point-defense weapon against anti-ship cruise missiles...
- SeaRAM is a companion to the Phalanx, using Phalanx' sensor suite and an 11-missile RAM launcher - Sadral, using a version of the Mistral missileMistral missileMistral is an infrared homing surface-to-air missile manufactured by the European multinational company MBDA missile systems . Based on the French SATCP , the portable missile later to become the Mistral began development in 1974...
- Sea-Sprint, using the ADATSAir Defense Anti-Tank SystemThe Air Defense Anti-Tank System is a dual-purpose short range surface-to-air and anti-tank missile system based on the M113A2 vehicle. It is manufactured by the Swiss company Oerlikon-Contraves, a member of the Rheinmetall Defence Group of Germany....
missile - Modernized Sea WolfSea Wolf missileSea Wolf is a naval guided missile system designed and built by BAC, later to become British Aerospace Dynamics . It is an automated point-defence weapon system designed as a final line of defence against both sea-skimming and high angle anti-ship missiles and aircraft...
- Sea Sparrow Block 1, Missile used by the Nimitz class carriers, and other USN ships, as a short to medium range anti-aircraft weapon.
- Evolved Sea SparrowESSMThe RIM-162 Evolved Sea Sparrow Missile is a development of the RIM-7 Sea Sparrow missile used to protect ships from attacking missiles and aircraft. ESSM is designed to counter supersonic maneuvering anti-ship missiles...
missile, used aboard all Sea Sparrow-capable warships, plus other warships of the Netherlands, Canadian, Spanish, Japanese, Turkish and Australian navies.
- Evolved Sea Sparrow
Land based CIWS
CIWS are also used in a land based anti-mortar and missile defense role to protect fixed and temporary bases and other facilities.On a smaller scale, active protection system
Active protection system
An active protection system is a system designed to prevent sensor-based weapons from acquiring and/or destroying a target....
s are used in some tank
Tank
A tank is a tracked, armoured fighting vehicle designed for front-line combat which combines operational mobility, tactical offensive, and defensive capabilities...
s, and several are in development. The Drozd
Drozd
Drozd is an active protection system developed in the Soviet Union, designed for increasing tanks' protection against anti-tank missiles and RPGs. It is considered the world's first operational active protection system, created in 1977–78 by A...
system was deployed on Soviet Naval Infantry tanks in the early 1980s, but later replaced by explosive reactive armour. Other systems are available or under development are the Russia
Russia
Russia or , officially known as both Russia and the Russian Federation , is a country in northern Eurasia. It is a federal semi-presidential republic, comprising 83 federal subjects...
n (Arena), Israel
Israel
The State of Israel is a parliamentary republic located in the Middle East, along the eastern shore of the Mediterranean Sea...
i (Trophy
TROPHY Active Protection System
Trophy is an active protection system , designed to supplement the armor of both light and heavy armored fighting vehicles. It intercepts and destroys incoming missiles and rockets with a shotgun-like blast...
), American (Quick Kill) and the South African
South Africa
The Republic of South Africa is a country in southern Africa. Located at the southern tip of Africa, it is divided into nine provinces, with of coastline on the Atlantic and Indian oceans...
-Swedish
Sweden
Sweden , officially the Kingdom of Sweden , is a Nordic country on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. Sweden borders with Norway and Finland and is connected to Denmark by a bridge-tunnel across the Öresund....
(LEDS-150
LEDS-150
LEDS-150 Land Electronic Defence System is an active protection system, developed by Saab Avitronics, a South African subsidiary of the Swedish aerospace and defence company, Saab....
).
See also
- Active protection systemActive protection systemAn active protection system is a system designed to prevent sensor-based weapons from acquiring and/or destroying a target....
- Metal Storm (company)
- Armour-piercing discarding sabotArmour-piercing discarding sabotArmour-piercing discarding sabot is a type of kinetic energy projectile fired from a gun to attack armoured targets. APDS rounds are sabot rounds and were commonly used in large calibre tank guns, but have now been superseded by armour-piercing fin-stabilized discarding sabot projectiles in such...