World navies are facing new challenges today, resulting from the outburst of global terrorism in recent years, coupled with a shift in naval warfare toward the littorals. Naval vessels are faced with the high threat imposed by non-traditional, asymmetric fighting means and methods employed by terror organisations and domestic guerrilla forces. The incident of the suicide bombing attack against the US navy destroyer USS COLE while it was harboured in the port of Aden provided a clear example of the asymmetric threats in the littorals. The lesson learned was that navies, powerful and mighty, cannot defeat an opposing terror adversary, while exercising traditional fighting means and concepts.
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| Mini-TYPHOON (Photo: Rafael) |
Rafael Advanced Defense Systems is able to offer a solution – the TYPHOON weapon station – which has been developed based on the requirements and experience gained by the Israeli Defence Forces (IDF). Rafael has teamed with BAE Systems to offer the TYPHOON system and technology to the US Navy for the mission of ship protection against asymmetric threats.
Ship Protection against Asymmetric Threats
TYPHOON is an advanced naval medium calibre gun system. The system provides critical capabilities, especially in the littorals, serving force protection against asymmetric threats as well as precision offensive engagement. The weapon station is remotely operated from the ship’s operational quarters. Exceptional high firing performance results from a series of advanced features including high stabilization, ballistic computer, and advanced electro-optic fire control.Effective Operation
The TYPHOON is remotely operated from an operator console. Operation sequence includes surveillance, target identification, automatic tracking and engagement. The TYPHOON can be operated as a stand-alone system relying on its own sensors and controls, or alternatively through integration to other on-board combat systems. The built-in ballistic computer calculates a firing solution based on target and own-ship data, as well as environmental factors, feeding the gun mount with lead angle and super-elevation that result in high hit probability. An electro-optical director, coupled with the fire control computer and automatic tracker, maintain on-going engagement until mission success.High Customer Value
Operationally proven for over a decade, with hundreds of systems manufactured, the cost effective TYPHOON provides low-risk, high value to the customer. BAE, together with Rafael, has won a contract for the Mk 38 Mod 2 Machine Gun System to be provided to the US Navy. The contract covers the supply of several hundreds of weapon stations to the US Navy's surface combatant ships for ship protection purposes.Features
- Gun up to 30 mm with anti-terror (AT/FP) surface fleet ammunition
- Force protection for large ships
- Main weapon for patrol boats
- Integrated electro-optical payload
- Missile integration on-mount
- Advanced fire control
- Built-in trainer
- Self-sustained power supply
The TYPHOON family has set the standards for stabilised, remotely controlled, small calibre, naval gun systems. The Typhoon can serve as a secondary gun for large vessels, as well as main gun for patrol boats. Firepower can be boosted with on-mount integration of various missile types.