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A model of MBDA Italia's Marte ER anti-ship missile. Firing trials of an all-up round are planned before 2020". Source: Luca Peruzzi
Key Points
- MBDA Italia is also developing lighter missiles launcher modules to enhance the CDS system's mobility
- Firing trials to test and qualify an all-up Marte ER round are expected by 2020
According to the company, the CDS is based on a "modular, scalable, self-contained, network-centric conceptual approach", and can integrate a mix of MBDA's Exocet MM 40 Block 3, Otomat Mk 2 Block IV, and the future Marte ER (extended range) anti-ship missiles.
MBDA Italia's technical and military operations manager, Andrea Comite, told IHS Jane's that the new system "will offer all-weather, 24/7 protection of national shores, providing interdiction [in] territorial waters, homeland integrity, defence of vital assets, and heavy strike retaliation against any surface vessel threats from fast patrol boats to front-line and support warships".
The CDS concept is centred on the development of "a modular, scalable, and mobile package of sensors, command, control, and communications [C3], and effectors ... providing maximum situational awareness, operational effectiveness, and net-centric warfare capabilities", he added.
The CDS is based on a core block of two cross-terrain 6x6 trucks carrying 20 ft ISO-standard shipping containers accommodating respectively the C3 and surveillance suites, with operator consoles and dedicated equipment, and up to four missile firing units (depending on the specific mix of missiles chosen) with four missile launchers in each unit. The mobile support and resupply package includes a number of 6x6 trucks, depending on the required number of firing units.
The C3 and surveillance units are connected by fibre-optic cables and can also link to command nodes using satellite, over-the-horizon (OTH), and UHF communications systems. Sensors include radar, electro-optical/infrared (EO/IR), and targeting systems.
Comite said that the open-architecture, scalable, and modular approach means that the CDS concept can include a fixed command centre operating a number of mobile batteries.
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http://www.janes.com/article/65006/mbda-shows-new-modular-scalable-coastal-defence-concept
