Building on the success of a live detect and track experiment performed in the western Pacific under the Type 45 Science and Technology (TSAT) programme, the United Kingdom has committed further funds to explore the potential of BAE Systems' Sampson E/F-band active array multifunction radar (MFR) in a maritime ballistic missile defence (BMD) role.TSAT, undertaken by the UK Royal Navy (RN) Type 45 destroyer HMS Daring in September 2013 during a global deployment, demonstrated the ability of a modified Sampson MFR to detect and track medium-range ballistic missile (MRBM) targets flying representative trajectories. A follow-on Type 45 Experiment Concurrency and Cueing (TECC) event is planned for late 2015.
While the UK government has no stated policy or funded programme requirement for a BMD capability, it has over the last decade sponsored a series of technical and scientific studies through the Missile Defence Centre (MDC). Created in 2003, the MDC's role is: to keep the government informed and updated on BMD-related technologies and architectures; to oversee the management of supporting test, experimentation, and demonstration activities; and to provide advice to inform policy development.Similarly, while there is no approved programme to equip the Type 45 with a BMD capability, much of the MDC's research in recent years has been geared towards understanding any potential the RN's latest anti-air warfare (AAW) destroyers may have in this area. Such research has addressed both their contribution to theatre missile defence and their potential tactical capability in the face of emerging anti-ship ballistic missile threats.
TSAT stemmed from a US Missile Defense Agency (MDA) invitation to the RN, received in late 2011, to participate in Flight Test Operational-01 (FTO-01), a US BMD System operational test executed at the Reagan Test Site/Kwajalein Atoll in the Marshall Islands. This complex, multi-layered, operational test - involving the launch of two MRBM surrogates along operationally realistic trajectories - provided the United Kingdom with an opportunity to evaluate the efficacy of its performance modelling and to gather high-quality trials data for further analysis.The GBP10 million (USD16.8 million) TSAT effort was funded by the UK Ministry of Defence's (MoD's) Chief Scientific Advisor's Science and Technology (S&T) programme, with the MDC leading the delivery of the programme in close concert with industry (BAE Systems and MBDA) and the RN. The key radar objective for the S&T demonstration was to use the Sampson MFR (part of the Sea Viper anti-air guided weapon system), with BMD-specific firmware and software changes embodied, to detect and track MRBMs to confirm performance modelling and predictions.
Other components delivered as part of TSAT comprised a radar mission planning tool, a high-capacity data storage system, and a data analysis suite. TSAT-specific modifications to the Sea Viper command-and-control (C2) system were separately implemented by MBDA.The Sampson MFR experimental BMD software build remained latent on board Daring up until the TSAT campaign period. For the FTO-01 live firing event itself, on 10 September 2013, the ship was positioned several hundred miles north of Kwajalein Atoll, downrange of the MRBM launch points.Although the MDC has not released detailed metrics, BAE Systems told IHS Jane's that the performance of the modified Sampson radar "exceeded expectations in all respects". Both MRBM targets were detected at the earliest opportunity, with tracks maintained through to intercept.Following the success of the TSAT programme, in November 2013 the MoD's Research and Development Board approved the TECC programme. This is a follow-on S&T programme, representing an additional investment of about GBP7 million.ECC, planned to reach fruition in a BMD exercise scheduled for late 2015, has two primary objectives. The first is to demonstrate that AAW and BMD functionality can be implemented side-by-side within the Type 45 radar and combat system; for TSAT, Daring had to 'switch off' AAW functionality for the duration of the test, running only the experimental BMD software build in a local control mode. The second aim is to ensure interoperability, as BMD systems use a subtly different message set in the Link 16 tactical datalink.
In a separate development, the UK's Navy Command Headquarters (NCHQ) has established a Maritime Theatre Missile Defence desk; this position, albeit temporary, has been stood up in NCHQ to assist in the development of maritime capability strategy with particular emphasis on maritime missile defence and coalition interoperability.The United Kingdom has this month taken the lead of the multinational Maritime Theatre Missile Defence (MTMD) Forum for a 12-month period. This nine-nation group - also including Australia, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, Spain, and the United States - operates under a memorandum of understanding to share and develop a coherent approach to interoperability for future MTMD development.
http://www.janes.com/article/37970/uk-extends-sampson-radar-experimental-bmd-research
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