UK Defence Forum

Anyone know why we're deploying Giraffe's and CAMM to the Falklands?

A ground based radar with impressive anti-stealth capability plus our latest SAM seems like an awful lot of overkill considering Argentina doesn't even appear to have an airforce anymore.

To deter any future aggression from the Argies or proxies.

Spinflight wrote:A ground based radar with impressive anti-stealth capability

What Anti Stealth capability?

If there's anywhere in the world to best test a SAM system, it's the Falklands. That place is nightmarishly difficult for missiles to operate in, lot of geographic and weather effects to deal with. That'd be my guess. Easy access for terrain to allows the Typhoons to try out very nasty approaches on it too and see how it copes.

bobp wrote:What Anti Stealth capability?

Gallium nitride based radar.

Good video. Is that the model the UK is buying. The previous ones where on a mast.

Yeah we bought more of them a few years back, and also arranged for our existing ones to be upgraded.

Spinflight wrote:Yeah we bought more of them a few years back, and also arranged for our existing ones to be upgraded.

Is it?

All the reports I've seen on UK Giraffe purchases have been the Giraffe AMB model, which is on a mast, not the Giraffe 4A that uses GaN.

Angling... and hook

New joiner here, the the UK fleet is the AMB variant, not sure if the 4A is in service yet or who it is destined for.

ArmChairCivvy wrote:Angling... and hook

ArmChairCivvy wrote:Angling... and hook

True dat

I don't know if this is interesting for you but the 54th Regiment of Artillery has Sherpa 3A equipped with the MPCV system of MBDA.

http://www.army-technology.com/projects ... icle-mpcv/

British Giraffe Radars are the AMB kind, upgraded to standard C and with very small target detection, for mini-UAVs tracking.

i wonder will they move into Mortar Locating role as well?

RA 300 parade

Gabriele wrote:British Giraffe Radars are the AMB kind, upgraded to standard C and with very small target detection, for mini-UAVs tracking.

That must be the ELSS system that DSTL were looking at last year. Has it been confirmed that it has been added to Mod C? The main update is that the sensor will be used as the FCR for Landceptor, or whatever its being called this week.

Tumbleweed wrote:the sensor will be used as the FCR for Landceptor, or whatever its being called this week.

What else is there in place, to do that? It is time to move on from bde level deconflictation and then, at the next level, v local anti-mortar/ counter-btry and AD FC radars to something with better coverage, properly networked and multi-function.

ArmChairCivvy wrote:What else is there in place, to do that? It is time to move on from bde level deconflictation and then, at the next level, v local anti-mortar/ counter-btry and AD FC radars to something with better coverage, properly networked and multi-function.

Agreed, if I understand you correctly, but isn't that what this is for?

http://www.lockheedmartin.co.uk/uk/what ... ision.html

Gabriele wrote:

It is time to move on from bde level deconflictation

You made (one part of) my point for me:
"In 2008 Lockheed Martin UK led Team Athena signed a contract with the UK’s Ministry of Defence to provide the British Army with a state of the art situational awareness and battlespace management capability called the Land Environment Air Picture Provision (LEAPP). The LEAPP contract, worth over £100million, will see systems delivered from 2012"

ArmChairCivvy wrote: You made (one part of) my point for me:
"In 2008 Lockheed Martin UK led Team Athena signed a contract with the UK’s Ministry of Defence to provide the British Army with a state of the art situational awareness and battlespace management capability called the Land Environment Air Picture Provision (LEAPP). The LEAPP contract, worth over £100million, will see systems delivered from 2012"

Whats that? The kit is now in service, hence why the radar was at RA300!

Tumbleweed wrote:at the next level, v local anti-mortar/ counter-btry and AD FC radars

A far as I know this kit (the next two parts of my point) are scheduled to go out of service fairly soon?

ArmChairCivvy wrote:

Tumbleweed wrote:at the next level, v local anti-mortar/ counter-btry and AD FC radars

A far as I know this kit (the next two parts of my point) are scheduled to go out of service fairly soon?

Not sure about OSD for MAMBA, LCMR and ASP, but I thought they all had a good few years left. Outside of the LEAPP sensors what AD radars do land have now? Rapier is only in the Falklands and the HVM equipped units only have passive sensors.

ArmChairCivvy wrote:What else is there in place, to do that?

Tumbleweed wrote:Outside of the LEAPP sensors what AD radars do land have now

ArmChairCivvy wrote:

ArmChairCivvy wrote:What else is there in place, to do that?

Tumbleweed wrote:Outside of the LEAPP sensors what AD radars do land have now

Still not sure where you're going with this?

There is a new in service networked Air Surveillance system to provide an air picture to a land HQ with a medium range radar, and including I think Link 16 and 11. Additional sensors have been bought and will be used with the new GBAD system replacing Rapier. Even if Rapier was available to the Bdes its search radar is not networked and has an extremely limited range.

Tumbleweed wrote:new in service networked Air Surveillance system to provide an air picture to a land HQ with a medium range radar

plus

Tumbleweed wrote:Additional sensors have been bought and will be used with the new GBAD system replacing Rapier

You keep repeating back [paraphrasing] what I have already said; further

Tumbleweed wrote:Rapier was available to the Bdes its search radar is not networked and has an extremely limited range

-from the detail part you just omitted the anti-mortar/ counter-btry radars (touched on earlier; you seemed convinced that they had much life left in them, but in the same sentence asked for the OSD dates)