Raytheon’s Datalink: A New Naval Standard for the Standard?
Sep 13, 2011 16:04 EDT
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As missile defense imperatives get stronger, and western defense budgets get weaker, one might expect both competition and cooperation to increase within this sector. That should be especially true around naval platforms, where multinational deployments are the normal operating mode. There are early signs that this is coming true.
In September 2011, Raytheon announced successful testing for a prototype dual-band datalink, allowing ships that use either Lockheed Martin’s SPY-1/ AEGIS system, or Thales Nederland’s SMART-L and/or APAR radars, to employ the full range of long-range Standard Missiles for air defense. That matters, because the SM-* family also includes a number of options with missile defense capabilities…
Widening the Market
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Raytheon’s SM-2 is currently its biggest seller by far within the Standard Missile family, and it equips a wide variety of American and international customers. A modified version called the SM-2 Block IV adds a booster and other enhancements to give it longer range and last-stage ballistic missile defense capabilities, but the USA is its only customer at the moment. The SM-2 Block IV will share its basic form, and terminal BMD capabilities, with the newer and more advanced SM-6, which is just entering production.
For longer-range missile defense, Raytheon’s SM-3 is currently the most tested naval offering in the world – and test results have been good. It’s also the most widely sold, with the most investment, producing a very attractive upgrade path that promises big improvements in range, seeker performance, and kill vehicle performance. That makes it very attractive, especially for navies that already use the compatible MK41 vertical launch system. But what if they don’t use the AEGIS combat system, or the SPY-1 radar, like American destroyers and cruisers?
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Some do. Japan, for instance, has already given its Kongo Class AEGIS destroyers full BMD upgrades, conducted successful anti-missile tests with the SM-3, and is cooperating with the USA to design the next-generation SM-3 Block IIA.
For others, the question is one of fast integration. Norway (Fridtjof Nansen) and Spain (F100) already operate SPY-1 equipped AEGIS frigates, and Australia’s 3 forthcoming Hobart Class ships will be F100 derivatives. Both serving ship types currently carry Raytheon’s SM-2 missiles, and the Hobart Class is also expected to carry SM-6 missiles after 2020. These ship types’ SPY-1 radars and AEGIS combat systems have not been upgraded with the USA’s full missile defense package, and Norway’s smaller SPY-1F radars may not be upgradeable. Even so, Spanish F100 frigates with AEGIS BMD 3.0 have served in a tracking role during US Navy ABM tests, and this ship type is eligible for the full BMD upgrade path.
So, too, are South Korea’s KDX-III AEGIS destroyers, though the ROKN has yet to make a request for AEGIS BMD upgrades or SM-3 missiles. Raytheon does not mention that country in its release.
Dutch ships have also participated in US missile tests, and in 2009, a joint U.S.-Netherlands study concluded that SM-3 missiles could be integrated with their air defense ships’ more advanced SMART-L/APAR platform, giving those ships independent missile defense capabilities. Germany (F124 Sachsen) and the Netherlands (De Zeven Provincien) have 7 frigates between them that carry SMART-L, APAR, and the SM-* compatible MK41 vertical launch system; Denmark (Iver Huitfeldt) will add 3 more by 2013.
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France (2 Horizon), Italy (2 Horizon) and the United Kingdom (6 Type 45) all use variants of the S1850 radar, which is derived from the SMART-L, in their top-end air defense ships. All of these ships use MBDA’s Aster-30, which has begun anti-missile testing, fired from DCNS’s Sylver VLS launchers – which are not compatible with the SM-2 Block IV, SM-3, or SM-6. Yet.
The UK will also use the S1850M on its new Queen Elizabeth Class aircraft carriers, and has expressed interest in adding SM-3 missiles to its Type 45 destroyers. Neither ship type is currently fitted to fire SM-3s, but the Royal Navy is looking into drop more vertical launch cells into their Type 45s, alongside the ships’ existing Sylver 50 system: either the SM-3 compatible Mk41 VLS, or DCNS’ Sylver 70 VLS, with possible SM-3 adapters.
Beyond this group, South Korea’s SMART-L equipped Dokdo Class amphibious assault ship adds an odd counterpart, which lacks long range air defense missiles, and went unmentioned in Raytheon’s assessment of international SMART-L equipped ships. Its long-range scanning radar might improve fleet tracking, if coupled with the ROKN’s AEGIS destroyers via Cooperative Engagement Capability. Even if one presumes a political shift toward naval missile defense roles in Korea, the question is how much more capability would be added by making that investment in ROKS Dokdo, and adding the dual-band datalink to SM-3s fired from other ships.
