RAN ANZAC Frigate Completes ASMD Upgrade

23 April 2016

HMAS Parramatta (FFH 154) docked at BAE’s Henderson shipyard. HMAS Parramatta has completed its anti-ship missile defence upgrade (photo: BAE Systems)

The Royal Australian Navy's (RAN's) ANZAC-class frigate HMAS Parramatta has completed its anti-ship missile defence (ASMD) upgrade.

Fifth-in-class Parramatta undocked at BAE Systems' Henderson shipyard in Western Australia on 19 April. The frigate will now undergo three months of harbour and sea trials before rejoining the fleet.

The ASMD upgrade, implemented under Project SEA 1448 Phase 2, includes the installation and integration of the CEAFAR/CEAMOUNT active phased array radar (PAR) suite developed by Australian company CEA Technologies; the upgrade of the Saab Systems 9LV 453 combat management system to Mk 3E standard; installation and integration of a Sagem Vampir NG infrared search-and-track system (IRST); and major changes to the layout of the operations room.

Replacing the legacy Sea Giraffe G-band Target Indication Radar, the six-face CEAFAR S-band radar provides surface, volume, and air surveillance; missile detection and classification; fire-control tracking; kill assessment; surface gunfire support; helicopter support; and small surface target detection and classification. The associated X-band CEAMOUNT phased array illuminator, which is slaved to CEAFAR, features four fixed arrays producing electronically steered beams to provide both rear reference signals and target illumination to support multiple simultaneous RIM-162 Evolved SeaSparrow Missile (ESSM) engagements.

The full performance of the upgraded combat system has been realised by the introduction of Interrupted Continuous Wave Illumination (ICWI) missile guidance. Unlike Home-All-the-Way guidance, which requires the target to be illuminated continuously, ICWI exploits the ability of the PAR system to transmit a series of discrete illumination pulses that can be rapidly switched among multiple targets, providing the necessary homing energy to guide several missiles to their individually assigned targets. The ESSM missiles themselves receive mid-course guidance updates via an X-band uplink (no target illumination being required during the boost or mid-course phases).

(Jane's)