PAAMS
Encyclopedia
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
/Italian
Italy
Italy , officially the Italian Republic languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Italy's official name is as follows:;;;;;;;;), is a unitary parliamentary republic in South-Central Europe. To the north it borders France, Switzerland, Austria and...
/British
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
programme for a naval anti-aircraft weapon. The prime contractor is EUROPAAMS, a joint venture between Eurosam
Eurosam
Eurosam GIE is a European manufacturer of anti-air missiles.Eurosam was established in June 1989 for the development of the Famille de missiles Sol-Air Futurs . Eurosam was initially a joint venture between Aérospatiale, Alenia and Thomson-CSF...
(66%) and MBDA
MBDA
MBDA is a missile developer and manufacturer with operations in France, Britain, Germany, Italy, and the United States. It was formed by a merger of Aérospatiale-Matra Missiles , Finmeccanica and Matra BAe Dynamics in December 2001. In 2003 the company had 10,000 employees...
subsidiary UKAMS
UKAMS
UKAMS Ltd. is the UK partner of the EUROPAAMS consortium, the developer of the Principal Anti Air Missile System , a naval air defence weapon system.UKAMS was originally a consortium of Siemens Plessey Systems, GEC-Marconi and BAeSEMA...
(33%). MBDA also owns 66% of Eurosam, in effect giving it a 77% share of the project. The Royal Navy now uses the designation Sea Viper for the system.
History
The PAAMS was intended to be deployed in the Horizon CNGF (Common New Generation Frigate) for the navies of the partner nations. The French DGADélégation Générale pour l'Armement
The Direction générale de l’armement, which could be translated as “General Directorate for Armament”, or DGA, is the French Government Defence procurement agency responsible for the program management, development and purchase of weapon systems for the French military.-Armament programs...
placed a contract with EUROPAAMS on 11 August 1999 for the development and initial production of the PAAMS and the associated Long Range Radar (LRR) system, including one PAAMS and one LRR for each of the first British, French and Italian Horizon frigates.
Irreconcilable differences in the design requirements led to the UK leaving the Horizon project in October 1999. However, although now pursuing a national warship design (designated the 'Type 45 Destroyer
Type 45 destroyer
The United Kingdom's Type 45 destroyer is an air defence destroyer programme of the Royal Navy which will replace its Type 42 destroyers. The first ship in the class, HMS Daring, was launched on 1 February 2006 and commissioned on 23 July 2009. The ships are now built by BAE Systems Surface Ships...
'), the UK remained committed to the PAAMS project. In 2003 the UK ordered five more sets of PAAMS and LRR systems to allow the construction of the six Type 45 Destroyers to progress.
Two additional sets of PAAMS and LRR systems were also ordered by France and Italy in 2003 for their Horizon class frigate
Horizon class frigate
The Horizon Common New Generation Frigate is a multi-national collaboration to produce a new generation of anti-air warfare frigates. Originally an alliance of Britain, France and Italy, the project is now a French/Italian effort following the withdrawal of Britain due to differing requirements...
.
As a result of efforts to achieve economies of scale, the PAAMS command system shares a common architecture with that of the Type 45 destroyer
Type 45 destroyer
The United Kingdom's Type 45 destroyer is an air defence destroyer programme of the Royal Navy which will replace its Type 42 destroyers. The first ship in the class, HMS Daring, was launched on 1 February 2006 and commissioned on 23 July 2009. The ships are now built by BAE Systems Surface Ships...
. Consequently, the PAAMS uses the same Windows 2000
Windows 2000
Windows 2000 is a line of operating systems produced by Microsoft for use on personal computers, business desktops, laptops, and servers. Windows 2000 was released to manufacturing on 15 December 1999 and launched to retail on 17 February 2000. It is the successor to Windows NT 4.0, and is the...
based command consoles as the Type 45. This extends the use of Windows for Warships outside the Royal Navy to the French and Italian navies as well.
On 28 January 2009, the PAAMS was given its official designation of Sea Viper by the Royal Navy.
Testing
During its first major warfare sea exercise aboard HMS Daring the ship's Combat Management System crashed while under simulated air attack due to a power failure. The ship lost use of its combat management system, i.e. PAAMS. The ship's crew reverted to use of binoculars to spot incoming airborne threats until the CMS had been restarted.In 2009 two test firings of PAAMS in the British (Sea Viper) configuration from the Longbow trials barge failed due to "failures in the terminal phase of the engagement." It is believed that "production weaknesses" of Aster 30 missiles were to blame.
On 29 September 2010, the Type 45 destroyer HMS Dauntless successfully identified, tracked and engaged a target drone with the Sea Viper system while at sea. Previously to that the longbow barge had also successfully fired a salvo of Aster 30 missiles at another target drone moving at high speed.
Capabilities
The PAAMS is designed to allow equipped vessels to protect themselves and escorted vessels against missile and aircraft threats. The PAAMS will also be capable of operating close inshore to provide air defence for ground forces, e.g. amphibious landings.The PAAMS will provide a step change in capability over current systems, e.g. the Type 42's Sea Dart
Sea Dart missile
Sea Dart or Guided Weapon System 30 is a British surface-to-air missile system designed by Hawker Siddeley Dynamics and built by British Aerospace from 1977...
system which is vulnerable to low level and saturation attack
Saturation attack
Saturation attack is a military tactic in which the attacking side hopes to gain an advantage by overwhelming the defending side's technological, physical and mental ability to respond effectively...
s. The PAAMS Aster
MBDA Aster
Aster is a family of surface-to-air missiles manufactured by Eurosam, a European consortium consisting of MBDA France, MBDA Italy and the Thales Group .-Overview:The Aster family was developed to perform three distinct missions:...
missiles were designed from the outset to intercept sea-skimming missiles. Utilising the SYLVER launcher
SYLVER launcher
The Sylver is a vertical missile launcher designed by DCNS. The launcher comes in several variants, each distinguished by their height...
, the PAAMS can launch 8 missiles in 10 seconds. Unlike the Sea Dart
Sea Dart missile
Sea Dart or Guided Weapon System 30 is a British surface-to-air missile system designed by Hawker Siddeley Dynamics and built by British Aerospace from 1977...
, however, the PAAMS has no anti-ship capability.
PAAMS components
- PAAMS (S) — British variant with SAMPSONSAMPSONThe SAMPSON is a multi-function AESA radar produced by BAE Systems Integrated System Technologies. The SAMPSON multi function radar system is described by BAE Systems as being a world beating air defence system...
Multi-Function Radar (MFR) - PAAMS (E) — French/Italian variant with EMPAREMPAREMPAR is a rotating G band multifunction Phased array radar built by Selex. It is designed to be the principle radar system aboard naval vessels of medium and large sizes...
Multi-Function Radar - Automatic Command and controlCommand and Control (military)Command and control, or C2, in a military organization can be defined as the exercise of authority and direction by a properly designated commanding officer over assigned and attached forces in the accomplishment of the mission...
system - Consoles running Windows 2000Windows 2000Windows 2000 is a line of operating systems produced by Microsoft for use on personal computers, business desktops, laptops, and servers. Windows 2000 was released to manufacturing on 15 December 1999 and launched to retail on 17 February 2000. It is the successor to Windows NT 4.0, and is the...
operating system - SYLVERSYLVER launcherThe Sylver is a vertical missile launcher designed by DCNS. The launcher comes in several variants, each distinguished by their height...
vertical missile launcher - MBDA AsterMBDA AsterAster is a family of surface-to-air missiles manufactured by Eurosam, a European consortium consisting of MBDA France, MBDA Italy and the Thales Group .-Overview:The Aster family was developed to perform three distinct missions:...
missiles- Aster 15 - Short range
- Aster 30 - Medium to long range
Both variants of the PAAMS operate in conjunction with the BAE Systems Insyte
BAE Systems Integrated System Technologies
BAE Systems Integrated System Technologies was formed on May 3, 2005, by bringing together BAE Systems' interests in C4ISR and the UK operations of AMS following the Eurosystems Transaction....
/Thales
Thales Group
The Thales Group is a French electronics company delivering information systems and services for the aerospace, defense, transportation and security markets...
S1850M Long Range/Early Warning Radar
S1850M
The S1850M is a long range radar for wide area search. The S1850M is produced by BAE Systems Integrated System Technologies and Thales. It is a modified version of the Thales Nederland SMART-L radar. The S1850M is advertised as being capable of fully automatic detection, track initiation and...
.
Applications
- Royal Navy Type 45Type 45 destroyerThe United Kingdom's Type 45 destroyer is an air defence destroyer programme of the Royal Navy which will replace its Type 42 destroyers. The first ship in the class, HMS Daring, was launched on 1 February 2006 and commissioned on 23 July 2009. The ships are now built by BAE Systems Surface Ships...
Destroyer - Horizon class anti-air warfare frigates