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(Redirected from Close-in weapons system)
A 'Close-in weapon system (CIWS)' is a naval shipboard weapon system for detecting and destroying incoming anti-ship missiles and enemy aircraft at short range (the threat(s) having penetrated the ship's available outer defences). Typically, the acronym is pronounced "Sea-whiz".
A CIWS usually consists of a combination of radars, computers, and multiple rapid-fire medium-calibre guns placed on a rotating gun mount. Examples of CIWS products in operation are
★ Raytheon's Phalanx system
★ Dutch-built Goalkeeper
★ Turkish Sea Zenith
★ Spanish Meroka CIWS
★ Russian AK-630 or Kashtan
★ Italian DARDO or Myriad
★ Chinese Type 730 and
★ Israeli Typhoon.
Nearly all classes of modern warship are equipped with some kind of CIWS device. Smaller CIWS-like defenses are currently being developed for s in the USA, Israel, China and Russia ("Drozd" and "Arena" grenade launchers in the case of Russia, TROPHY in the case of Israel).
The current trend in CIWS is to use missile systems instead of guns, because guns have certain limitations:
★ Short range: The maximum effective range of 30-mm gun systems is about 2000 m; systems with lighter projectiles have even shorter range. The expected real-world kill-distance of an incoming anti-ship missile is about 500 m or less, still close enough to possibly cause damage on the ship's sensor or communication arrays. Also the timeframe for interception is relatively short; for supersonic missiles moving at 1500 m/s it is approximately one-third of a second.
★ Limited kill probability: Even if the missile is hit and damaged, it may not be enough to destroy it or change its course enough, to prevent it or fragments of it from hitting its intended target (short interception distance, see above). This is especially true if the gun fires kinetic-energy-only projectiles (e.g., ''Phalanx'' with DU rounds).
★ They are only able to engage one target at a time and switching targets needs up to one second for training the gun. A coordinated salvo of missiles can easily overwhelm a gun-based CIWS.
★ For a gun hitting a target travelling at high speed, it has to predict its course and aim ahead of it since mid-course corrections of projectiles are not possible. Modern anti-ship missiles make erratic moves before impact, reducing the probability of being hit.
Because of their greater range, a missile-CIWS can also be dual-used as a short-ranged area-defense anti-air weapon, eliminating the need of a second mount for this role.
After an inertial guidance phase CIWS missile relies on infra-red, passive radar/ESM or semi-active radar terminal guidance or a combination of these. The ESM-mode is particularly useful since most long-range anti-ship missiles use radar to home in on their targets. Some systems allow the launch platform to send course-correction commands to the missile in the inertial guidance phase.
Examples include:
★ Crotale-NG
★ RAM - ''Sea-RAM'' is a direct replacement for ''Phalanx'', using Phalanx' sensors and mounts
★ Sadral, using a version of the Mistral missile
★ Sea-Sprint, using the ADATS missile
★ Modernized Sea Wolf
★ Sea Sparrow Block 1, Missile used by the Nimitz class carriers, and other USN ships, as a short to medium range anti-aircraft weapon.
★ Evolved Sea Sparrow missile, used aboard all Sea Sparrow-capable warships, plus other warships of the Netherlands, Canadian, Spanish, Japanese and Australian navies.
★ SA-N-11 Grisom missile, used by the Russian and Chinese navies as part of the CADS-N-1 system.
★ Because of the inefficiency and bulkiness of the original CIWS units, the acronym received the derisive backronym of "'''C'hrist! 'I't 'W'on't 'S'hoot!''"
★ Some CIWS techs hold that CIWS stands for "Can I Work Saturday?"
★ The original CIWS units are sometimes referred to as "R2-D2 with a hard-on" due to the cylindrical radome's physical resemblance to the ''Star Wars'' character and the positioning of gatling gun barrel assemblage.
★ The ammunition for CIWS is specifically designated as not suitable for forward firing aircraft because of the sabot that covers the projectiles.
★ A semi-official motto for the Phalanx CIWS used to say, "If it flies, it dies."
★ Point-defence
★ Active protection system
★ Metal Storm
★ Armour-piercing discarding sabot
★ Spanish CIWS System Meroka
★ CIWS action video
A 'Close-in weapon system (CIWS)' is a naval shipboard weapon system for detecting and destroying incoming anti-ship missiles and enemy aircraft at short range (the threat(s) having penetrated the ship's available outer defences). Typically, the acronym is pronounced "Sea-whiz".
A CIWS usually consists of a combination of radars, computers, and multiple rapid-fire medium-calibre guns placed on a rotating gun mount. Examples of CIWS products in operation are
★ Raytheon's Phalanx system
★ Dutch-built Goalkeeper
★ Turkish Sea Zenith
★ Spanish Meroka CIWS
★ Russian AK-630 or Kashtan
★ Italian DARDO or Myriad
★ Chinese Type 730 and
★ Israeli Typhoon.
Nearly all classes of modern warship are equipped with some kind of CIWS device. Smaller CIWS-like defenses are currently being developed for s in the USA, Israel, China and Russia ("Drozd" and "Arena" grenade launchers in the case of Russia, TROPHY in the case of Israel).
| Contents |
| Missile systems |
| CIWS trivia |
| See also |
| External Links |
Missile systems
The current trend in CIWS is to use missile systems instead of guns, because guns have certain limitations:
★ Short range: The maximum effective range of 30-mm gun systems is about 2000 m; systems with lighter projectiles have even shorter range. The expected real-world kill-distance of an incoming anti-ship missile is about 500 m or less, still close enough to possibly cause damage on the ship's sensor or communication arrays. Also the timeframe for interception is relatively short; for supersonic missiles moving at 1500 m/s it is approximately one-third of a second.
★ Limited kill probability: Even if the missile is hit and damaged, it may not be enough to destroy it or change its course enough, to prevent it or fragments of it from hitting its intended target (short interception distance, see above). This is especially true if the gun fires kinetic-energy-only projectiles (e.g., ''Phalanx'' with DU rounds).
★ They are only able to engage one target at a time and switching targets needs up to one second for training the gun. A coordinated salvo of missiles can easily overwhelm a gun-based CIWS.
★ For a gun hitting a target travelling at high speed, it has to predict its course and aim ahead of it since mid-course corrections of projectiles are not possible. Modern anti-ship missiles make erratic moves before impact, reducing the probability of being hit.
Because of their greater range, a missile-CIWS can also be dual-used as a short-ranged area-defense anti-air weapon, eliminating the need of a second mount for this role.
A RAM launcher of the German Navy
After an inertial guidance phase CIWS missile relies on infra-red, passive radar/ESM or semi-active radar terminal guidance or a combination of these. The ESM-mode is particularly useful since most long-range anti-ship missiles use radar to home in on their targets. Some systems allow the launch platform to send course-correction commands to the missile in the inertial guidance phase.
Examples include:
★ Crotale-NG
★ RAM - ''Sea-RAM'' is a direct replacement for ''Phalanx'', using Phalanx' sensors and mounts
★ Sadral, using a version of the Mistral missile
★ Sea-Sprint, using the ADATS missile
★ Modernized Sea Wolf
★ Sea Sparrow Block 1, Missile used by the Nimitz class carriers, and other USN ships, as a short to medium range anti-aircraft weapon.
★ Evolved Sea Sparrow missile, used aboard all Sea Sparrow-capable warships, plus other warships of the Netherlands, Canadian, Spanish, Japanese and Australian navies.
★ SA-N-11 Grisom missile, used by the Russian and Chinese navies as part of the CADS-N-1 system.
CIWS trivia
★ Because of the inefficiency and bulkiness of the original CIWS units, the acronym received the derisive backronym of "'''C'hrist! 'I't 'W'on't 'S'hoot!''"
★ Some CIWS techs hold that CIWS stands for "Can I Work Saturday?"
★ The original CIWS units are sometimes referred to as "R2-D2 with a hard-on" due to the cylindrical radome's physical resemblance to the ''Star Wars'' character and the positioning of gatling gun barrel assemblage.
★ The ammunition for CIWS is specifically designated as not suitable for forward firing aircraft because of the sabot that covers the projectiles.
★ A semi-official motto for the Phalanx CIWS used to say, "If it flies, it dies."
See also
★ Point-defence
★ Active protection system
★ Metal Storm
★ Armour-piercing discarding sabot
External Links
★ Spanish CIWS System Meroka
★ CIWS action video
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