Technological advancements in electronic warfare, ammunition and data processing are continuously changing the nature of threats to naval platforms
Naval armaments consist of underwater, surface and air armament, sensors and fire control systems. However, this article has descriptions of only some major weapons and future developments. Naval armament is also more complex due to the difficult environment it operates in. Technological advancements in electronic warfare, ammunition and data processing are continuously changing the nature of threats to naval platforms thereby necessitating corresponding developments in sensors, and hard and soft kill weapons.
Anti-Ship Missile Defence
Technological advances have resulted in the development of highly manoeuvrable, stealthy, subsonic, and/or supersonic anti-ship ballistic and cruise missiles beyond visual and standoff ranges. Some examples are:
• BGM-109 Tomahawk (General Dynamics initially and Raytheon/McDonnell Douglas US later on): Range of 2,500 km with launch capability from air, subsurface and surface.
• Exocet (MBDA-France): Range of 180 km; launch capability from air, subsurface and surface.
• BrahMos (Indo/Russian): Range of 290 km, is supersonic and can be launched from air, surface and subsurface.
• 3M-54 Klub (SSN-27Sizzler; Russia): Range of 300 km and is purely subsurface.
• Zvezda Kh-35U (Russian: ?-35?; AS-20 ‘Kayak’): Jet-launched version of a Russian subsonic anti-ship missile which air launched and has a range of 130 km.
• Naval Strike Missile (Norway): Range of 185 km and can be launched from air and surface. Developed in 2009.
Surface-to-Air Missile
SAM systems will continue to be the backbone of Anti-Missile Defence (AMD) systems. Some examples are:
• Barak (Rafael-Israel): This is also with India and has a range of 10 km with surface launch capability. Barak II is also being developed which has a range of about 70 km. It is understood that a joint venture with India has been undertaken with the DRDO and it has been named Barak – Next Generation.
• RIM-161(Raytheon and Aerojet-US): Also called the Standard Missile 3, is part of the Aegis System with range of over 500 km. A more advance system is being developed called RIM 174 Standard Missile 6 by Raytheon and others.
Guns
projectiles for larger calibre (127 mm, 155 mm and even larger) guns. The ERGM projectile, with a range of upto 110 km, and inbuilt GPS and INS, are expected to be available within the next decade. The 155 mm shells with additional rocket motor drive and in-built intelligence are also under development and are expected to provide maximum ranges of up to 320 km.
Phalanx close-in weapon system (CIWS) Guns (General Dynamics now Raytheon, US): The Phalanx is an anti-ship missile system consisting of a radar-guided 20 mm Gatling gun mounted on a swiveling base. The Phalanx is used by the US on every class of surface combat ship.
Electro-Magnetic (EM) Rail Gun: This concept uses kinetic energy to extend the range in an affordable manner. An EM rail gun uses a combination of pulsed power system and linear accelerator to accelerate projectiles to hypersonic velocities. Experiments have demonstrated that the projectiles could be accelerated to achieve a speed up to 2.5 km per second and it is possible to achieve hypersonic velocities of up to 6 km per second.
