At IDEX 2015, the UAE company Siham Al Khaleej Technology (SAKT), together with MBDA, the European missile systems company, and GEM elettronica of Italy, are presenting an innovative and cost-effective coastal battery system.
This cooperation is part of a Heads of Agreement signed during the 2013 Dubai Air Show that sees SAKT as the prime contractor and system integrator, MBDA as the supplier of the launchers and the launching systems for the Marte family of missiles and GEM as the coastal battery remote station system supplier.
The coastal defence system can provide both the surveillance of maritime coastal traffic and the interdiction of territorial waters to hostile ships and can launch two different missile options: Marte MK2/N, for those users wanting to control littoral waters at ranges out to 35 Km and Marte ER, for those customers needing to extend control out to a much greater range. The system can be connected through a data-link with an upper level of Command and Control (C2) and can be rapidly deployed anywhere along the coast and easily redeployed on small islands.
The Coastal Battery Remote Station (CBRS 100-MD) is a compact, shelter-contained system, capable of operating in all weather conditions, day or night. As an option, GEM is offering a TV/IIR capability to extend the overall identification performance.
The proposed system will be on display on the SAKT stand and represents the baseline configuration of a Coastal Defence System that satisfies the key requirements of Surveillance, Control and Protection of sea lines of communication as well as the protection of coastal assets.
The baseline is a very simple configuration with a minimum number of components (a high-performance surface coastal radar, a shelter with C2 functions and associated equipment and a Marte missile launcher) and a low permanent crew requirement. Marte family missiles will be supplied directly by MBDA.
Siham Al Khaleej Technology is a UAE company focused on designing, manufacturing and assisting the integration and after-sales support of best-in-class maritime systems solutions, focusing on transfer of technology from primary international partners for customers in the MENA region.
SAKT complements Al Fattan Ship Industry and Etihad Ship Building capabilities to fulfil the Al Fattan Industry Group strategic vision of providing whole military vessel turnkey solutions in the GCC and MENA regions.
MBDA offers a range of 45 missile systems and countermeasures products already in operational service and more than 15 others currently in development. MBDA has a significant presence in five European countries and within the USA, and in 2013 achieved a turnover of 2.8 billion euros with an order book of 10.8 billion euros. MBDA is jointly held by Airbus Group (37.5%), BAE Systems (37.5%), and Finmeccanica (25%).
Marte missile family
Marte MK2 is a fire-and-forget, medium-range, sea-skimming anti-ship weapon system that can be used in all weather conditions. It is equipped with mid-course inertial and radar-based terminal guidance and is able to destroy small vessels and seriously damage larger vessels. The missile can also be deployed on helicopters and fixed-wing aircraft (fighters or maritime patrol aircraft).
The new ER or Extended Range version of the missile keeps the basic characteristics of the Marte family while significantly extending its range. The new product offers important new features thanks to the use of a turbojet-based propulsion system that provides around a 400% increase in range compared to an equivalent rocket motor and therefore much greater operational flexibility. The missile still maintains a number of subsystems such as the seeker head that have already been proven in earlier versions of the Marte missile. This commonality between the missiles is expected to be much appreciated, particularly by current Marte MK2/s and MK2/n users.
GEM elettronica is one of Italy’s leading defence electronics companies. From its beginnings in navigation radar, the Company today supplies an extensive, diverse range of electronic equipment worldwide, operating in different business areas: surveillance and security, navigation and positioning, military defence and marine electronics.
CBRS-100 (Coastal Battery Remote station)
The system includes solid-state, LPI radar systems using digital technologies and designed for short- to medium-range coastal surveillance missions with a maximum target acquisition range of 100 n.m. Advanced radar processing technologies are also employed to optimize target detection accuracy and reliability.
