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Upgraded ANZAC concept
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In August 2005, Australia’s Ministry of Defence reported that Australia and the United States had joined forces by signing a joint agreement to developn active phased array radar technology in Australia. The total development cost was estimated to be approximately $30 million over 3 years. The hope is that it would kick-start a new Australian electronics and systems integration industry, based on S-band active array and X-band phased-array technology, sized for and applied to smaller ships like frigates and corvettes.

Both countries will share the development costs, technical expertise and benefits of the CEAFAR (3D) active phased array radar. This technology is being developed by ACT electronics company CEA Technologies, and has become part of Australia’s ASMD project to make its new Anzac-Class frigates survivable against supersonic cruise missiles. Other military and civil applications on land and sea are also possible, given the radar’s characteristics.

The latest news involves a Thales technology designed to make full use of the new radars’ capabilities…

• The CEAFAR/CEAMOUNT Solution
• Contracts and Key Events [updated]
• Additional Readings

The CEAFAR/CEAMOUNT Solution

CEAFAR (3D) Test

To date, planar phased array radars that can “stare” out over an entire coverage area, instead of rotating at the top of a ship, have been the domain of larger ships like cruisers and destroyers. As technologies have improved, medium and large sized frigates have begun to include these technologies as well. CEA Technologies’ pitch to the Australian DoD contended that advances in the power and size of modern electronics might allow this approach to be brought to smaller frigates and even corvettes, giving even these affordable ships strong protection against evolving threats, and an expanded role in future fleets. The niche was open, which meant that a successful program could give Australia a world-wide defense technology winner.

After some preliminary tests went well, an Australian government that was already wondering what to do with its new but already-overmatched ANZAC frigates began to pay attention.

The 4th generation S-band CEAFAR active phased array radar is designed to be supplemented with the X-band CEAMOUNT Solid State Continuous Wave Illuminator, and both are intended to be small enough for installation on corvettes or small frigates like the ANZAC Class. These radars use digital beamforming techniques, which improves the ability to use multiple simultaneous beams that help improve performance in severe environmental clutter, and also provide improved search and targeting capabilities against very fast, maneuvering targets. Modern supersonic anti-ship missiles, for example.

CEAMOUNT

The combined system of radar, illuminator and central equipment group of power supplies etc. is able to generate and continuously maintain more than 10 simultaneous fire control channels. That’s a very sharp improvement over Australia’s existing frigate capabilities; indeed, it is in the same range or better than some top-of-the-line air defense destroyers. Thales Nederland’s ICWI (Interrupted Continuous Wave Illumination) technologies will offer further improvements, when used with the SM-2 Block IIIA missile.

As an additional feature, the radar is designed to be software based. That adds risk to the program in the short term, but in the long term, it creates a radar that can be improved via algorithm updates and processor improvements, rather than more expensive and time-consuming hardware changes.

Back in August 2005, Australian defense minister Sen. Hill congratulated CEA Technologies and the Australian Defence Materiel Organisation for the work done to bring about this joint project, and noted that:

“The program will allow further development of the CEA radar technology for possible use in medium to long range air warfare and ballistic missile defence. The technology can also be applied to smaller ships and other Australian Defence Force air surveillance assets… [and] also has potential to be used in a range of US programs including the Littoral Combat Ship and other new ship programs, land and land mobile programs, as well as replacing legacy systems on some US ships… We have a very close working relationship with the US Navy on this project, with US staff embedded in the project team.”

Marrying a radar to any individual ship class is an exercise in specific design. A great deal of study has gone into the mounting of CEAFAR’s 6 faces and the CEAMOUNT illuminator’s 4 faces. That process has finally settled on an option that shifts the citadel to roughly mid-centre along the length of the ship, with the SPS-49 horizon search radar sitting atop the housing. The mount is as high as possible consistent with maintenance of the ship’s stability, and the ANZAC Class solution is reported to have a range of more than 30 nautical miles.

The ANZAC upgrade program will use a “1 + 7” format, in which the first ship will be upgraded and trialed before the remaining 7 get the go-ahead for upgrades.

CEC Concept
(click to enlarge)

Note that in order to be useful for long range air warfare and ballistic missile defense per Sen. Hill’s vision, these phased array radars would need to be integrated with other ships. As is the case with the U.S. Navy’s Co-operative Engagement Capability (CEC).

CEC works especially well with the AEGIS radar & combat system, which will be present in Australia’s new SEA 4000 Air Warfare Destroyers. CEC allows advance ships to track and engage threats beyond the firing ship’s radar range, and advanced versions of the Standard (SM-2 Block III+) missiles, which Australia is already buying for its FFG-7 frigates and Hobart Class Air Warfare Destroyers will give Australia that option.

The question is whether CEC or something similar will also be present in Austrlia’s upgraded ANZAC class, in order to take full advantage of the ships’ new radars, and give the RAN maximum flexibility and firepower.

At present, system level grooming and integration are underway for the CEA radars. So is construction, and the first 2 deliverable Sea 1448 systems are being assembled at CEA’s Canberra facilities. They are due for formal delivery in December 2009. First ship installation work should start in early 2009 after final acceptance testing, with a first of class delivery target of June 2011. The CEA radars will be installed along with Sagem’s Vampir NG IRST (Infra-red search and track) for passive surveillance, ad an upgrade to Saab’s 9LV Combat Management System.

Contracts and Key Events

New ANZAC citadel
(click for full ship)

March 31/09: Thales Nederland announces that Australia’s ANZAC frigates will be fitted with its Mid-Course Guidance and Sampled Data Homing function technologies, as a complement to their new active array radar systems.

The technology was developed to accompany Thales’ own active array EMPAR radar, and is based on Interrupted Continuous Wave Illumination (ICWI). ICWI guidance helps a single missile control radar guide several missiles simultaneously to several threats, instead of having a limited number of illuminators that can each focus on just one missile and one threat at a time. This has substantial benefits in the event of saturation attacks. Other navies buying Thales ICWI technologies include Germany and the Netherlands (F124 frigates), Denmark (future patrol ships), and Japan (future helicopter carrier and destroyers).

Feb 17/09: During a speech to the 2009 Australian Defence Magazine conference, Parliamentary Secretary for Defence Procurement Greg Combet has this to say about the ASMD project:

“Another project that has experienced significant delay has been the ANZAC Anti-Ship Missile Defence (ASMD) Project. The ASMD project involves a comprehensive upgrade of the ANZAC Frigates including the addition of new phased array radar technology designed by local Australian company CEA Technologies.

This is an exciting project involving some of the world’s best radar technologies, however it has also experienced some delays and budget pressures. I was pleased to announce last year that the project has now been able to successfully demonstrate CEA Technologies’ CEAFAR active phased array multi-function radar on HMAS Perth at sea. This is a significant milestone and forms part of the Commonwealth’s new risk mitigation strategy that aims to see the technology fully demonstrated before it is deployed to all of the frigates. “

Nov 25/08: CEA Technologies announces that its CEAFAR active phased-array multi-function radar has successfully completed at-sea risk reduction and data collection tests while installed on the ANZAC frigate HMAS Perth:

“Demonstration activities included tactical air and surface scenarios involving multiple aircraft and ships. Small targets that are representative of anti-ship missiles and weapon systems were employed. Tasks were conducted in littoral and open ocean maritime conditions and included the complex electromagnetic environments associated with multiple warships and aircraft… The at-sea demonstration follows a successful land-based demonstration in early November.”

On the other hand, Australia’s DoD does note that this project is behind schedule, and under scrutiny. Australian DoD | CEA Technologies.

Nov 6/08: A successful land-based demonstration of a production CEAFAR radar occurs at CEA Technologies’ Canberra facilities. CEAFAR fixed-face active phased array radar operated 2 ‘faces’ to track air targets in a complex land environment.

This test paves the way for at-sea work, and also fits into CEA and NGC’s larger plans for the technology. They believe that it may be scalable to land and even air-based applications, and so this test is a first step in that direction as well. CEA release [PDF]

Dec 19/07: CEA Technologies announces [PDF] that they have successfully achieved the required “through air” (i.e. clear conditions) radar performance with CEAFAR. CEA also implemented and demonstrated important aspects of its digital beam forming technology not scheduled for this stage of the program.

The firm’s release adds that the company is “actively engaged in the pursuit of international Naval programs in North America and Europe with opportunities worth in excess of AUD250M.”

Jan 22/07: Jane’s Navy International reports:

“Australia’s CEA Technologies is continuing to progress engineering development of the CEAFAR active phased-array radar system for the Anti-Ship Missile Defence (ASMD) upgrade of the Royal Australian Navy’s (RAN’s) eight ANZAC-class frigates. Selection of CEAFAR E/F-band phased-array radar and associated CEAMOUNT I/J-band missile illuminator for the ASMD upgrade (under Project SEA 1448) was confirmed by the Australian Department of Defence (DoD) in September 2005. This endorsement followed successful land-based and shipborne trials of the CEAFAR system over the past two-and-a-half years…”

March 10/06: CEA Technologies signs a strategic agreement with Northrop Grumman Corporation, which includes a minority shareholding in CEA. At the same time, long-term investors Deutsche Asset Management and the Canberra-based Goodwin & Kenyon Group sell their shareholdings. CEA release [PDF].

Dec 31/08: CEA Technologies CEO Mike Aitchison and Saab Systems Managing Director Merv Davis announce a 5-year extension to their strategic alliance, which focuses on marketing their Australian Anti Air Warfare System internationally. The firms have been working together since 2001, and collaborated in the 2003/04 trials.

Saab’s 9LV combat system is quite widespread among small frigates and corvettes, as well as some larger platforms. The combined solution is based around the combination of CEAFAR, CEAMOUNT, and Saab’s 9LV Mk3E Combat Management System (CMS). The idea is that this new system can be interfaced to a warship’s existing Command and Control System at far less cost than a total system upgrade. Which can easily be more expensive than the physical modifications to the ship. CEA Technologies [PDF]

Dec 23/06: Australian firm CEA Technologies in Fyshwick, Canberra receives a contract from Australia’s Defence Material Organisation (DMO) for Stage 2 of the AUSPAR phased array program. The contract also covers further design and risk reduction work for the ANZAC Frigate Anti Ship Missile Defence (ASMD) upgrade program, and will lead to a production contract expected to be awarded later in 2006.

Figures appear to vary slightly. Australia’s DoD describes it as an $A 12 million contract, while the CEA Technologies release fives a figure of A$ 21 million. What really happened is that 2 contracts worth a total of A$ 33 million were issued. DoD is referring to the ANZAC Class frigate upgrade contract, while the CEA media release refers to funding for the broader AUSPAR (Australia United States Phased Array Radar) program for high power active phased array radars based upon CEAFAR technology.

ANZAC (frigate) Alliance Team Members Tenix Defence and Saab Systems will collaborate with the Ministry of Defence, the Defence Science and Technology Organisation (DSTO) and CEA. At this stage the program is expected to be complete in early 2008. Australian DoD | CEA release re: agreement [PDF] | CEA release #2 [PDF] re: AUSPAR award.

Aug 16/05: Australia and the United States sign a joint agreement to further develop Australian active phased array radar technology (AUSPAR). Australia’s Department of Defence | CEA Technologies [PDF]

April 2005: The United States Navy indicates that it will join the AUSPAR program, following successful land and sea based trials of the existing low power CEAFAR phased array radar in 2003/04. Source [PDF].

Additional Readings

• CEA Technologies – CEAFAR Active Phased Array Radar

• CEA Technologies – CEAMOUNT Illuminator

• Defense Update – EL/M-2248 MF-STAR Naval Multi-Mission Radar. A similar radar offering from Israel’s IAI Elta.

• Australian Defence Magazine (December 2007 – January 2008) – Ship Defence Capabilities Outweigh Program Risks [PDF]

• Australian Defence Business Review Magazine (Nov – Dec 2007) – New Radar Horizon Set For Anzacs & Beyond [PDF]