4 500 rounds per minute how powerful is phallic's close-in weapon system
the phalanx close-in weapon system or seawiz
is an area weapon engineered to use a high rate of fire and ammunition to blanket a given area
destroying or knocking enemy fire out of the sky before it can reach a ship the phalanx seawiz
which can fire up to 4 500 rounds per minute has been protecting ship platforms for decades
the weapon is designed to counter incoming enemy attack from missiles small arms fire
drones enemy aircraft and small boats among other things it functions as part of an integrated
layered defense system in order to intercept closest end threats service officials explained
the weapon is currently on navy cruisers destroyers aircraft carriers and amphibious
assault ships among other vessels the upgrades are designed to substantially
increase capability and ensure that the system remains viable in the face of a fast changing
and increasingly complex threat environment navy officials said
the overhaul in recent years has consisted of numerous upgrades to the weapon itself
converting the existing systems into what's called the phalanx 1b configuration at the same time the
seawiz overhaul also includes the development and ongoing integration of a new next generation
radar for the system called seawiz phalanx block 1b baseline 2 navy officials explained
the block 1b configuration provides defense against asymmetric threat such as small
fast surface craft slow flying fixed and rotary winged aircraft and unmanned aerial vehicles
through the addition of an integrated forward-looking infrared sensor flir
navy is now upgrading all fleet phalanx block 1b baseline 0 and 1
close-in weapon systems to the latest phalanx block 1b baseline 2 configuration eng said
the plan is to have all seawiz phallics block 1b baseline 2 fleet he added
an upgrade and conversion of an older seawiz phalanx configuration to phalanx block 1b
averages around four and a half million dollars per unit and a block 1b baseline 2 radar upgrade
kit averages 931 thousand dollars per unit the phalanx block 1b configuration incorporates a
stabilized forward-looking infrared sensor an automatic acquisition video tracker
optimized gun barrels obg and the enhanced lethality cartridges elc service officials added
navy officials said block 1b provides ships the additional capability for defense against
asymmetric threats such as small high speed maneuvering surface craft slow flying fixed
and rotary wing aircraft and unmanned aerial vehicles the flir also improves performance
against anti-ship cruise missiles by providing more accurate angle tracking information to the
fire control computer officials added the ogb elc combined to provide tighter dispersion and
increased first hit range navy official atom the phallics 1b fires mk-244 ammunition using
the enhanced lethality cartridge specifically designed to penetrate anti-ship cruise missiles
the mk 244 ammunition is engineered with a 48 heavier tungsten penetrator and an aluminum
nose piece according to information from general dynamics ordnance and tactical systems the phalanx
block 1b baseline 2 radar upgrade is a new digital radar that provides improved detection performance
increased reliability and a reduction in sailor man hours for system maintenance
the baseline 2 upgrade mitigates obsolete components inherent in the existing analog
radar by introducing cots based commercial off the shelf
signal processing coupled with a new signal source and mixer navy officials said
the baseline 2 radar also provides the phalanx seawiz with a surface mode meaning it adds the
ability to track detect and then destroy threats closer to the surface of the water
compared with previous models of the weapon developers explained the upgraded phalanx seawiz
is designed to give ships the ability to address surface threats which they've not seen before
in practice this means the phalanx equipped with baseline 2 radar will have an increased
ability to defend against fast attack boats and low-flying missiles projectiles and aircraft
so