• The arrival of the Giraffe radars was the last stage of the Land 19 Phase 7A acquisition project. Credit: Defence
    The arrival of the Giraffe radars was the last stage of the Land 19 Phase 7A acquisition project. Credit: Defence
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Nigel Pittaway | Melbourne
 
A Counter Rocket, Artillery and Mortar (C-RAM) capability was rapidly acquired by the ADF in 2010 to protect the Australian Army’s main operating base at Tarin Kot and other forward operating bases in Afghanistan. 
What will happen to the capability now?
 
Technically not a complete C-RAM capability, since it lacked the means of destroying an incoming threat, the equipment acquired successfully prevented Australian casualties from indirect fire until the withdrawal of forces from Afghanistan in late 2013.
 
With the equipment now returned to Australia and the requirement for protection from indirect fire no longer focussing immediate attention, what lessons have been learned and what is the future of C-RAM in the ADF?
 
To oversee the rapid acquisition of the C-RAM capability for Afghanistan, the Ground Based Air Defence (GBAD) project, Land 19 Phase 7 was split into two separate tranches - Phase 7A dealt with C-RAM and the ongoing Phase 7B will replace the existing C-RAM and GBAD capabilities with an integrated Ground Based Air and Missile Defence (GBAMD) system.
 

“Anywhere between five and twenty seconds worth of warning provides soldiers enough time to react and be able to hit the ground.”


 
Defence says that the new system will be capable of sensing, managing and mitigating the weapon and sensor effects of a range of identified threats, including fixed wing aircraft, helicopters, UAVs, stand-off weapons and rockets, artillery and missile attacks. 
 
However a Defence spokesperson told ADM that any insight into current thinking on the future of C-RAM or the lessons learned from Afghanistan would have to await the forthcoming Force Structure Review (FSR). 
 
“The FSR is currently looking at a broad range of capabilities for the development of a balanced and affordable future force,” the spokesperson wrote. More detailed advice on the way forward for individual capabilities will be available following the release of the White Paper.”
 
The C-RAM capability is designed around seven ‘pillars’: Shape, Sense, Warn, Intercept, Respond, Command & Control and Protect.
 
In Australian terms, the C-RAM capability acquired under Land 19/7A included the initial lease of a Saab Giraffe agile multi-beam (AMB) radar system which was delivered to Tarin Kot and began operations on December 28, 2010. Three Giraffe AMB systems were purchased outright, with two going to Tarin Kot (and replacing the leased unit) in late 2012 and the third retained in Australia for training purposes from early 2013.
 
The project also acquired a number of AN/TPQ-48 Lightweight Counter Mortar Radars (LCMR), manufactured by the Syracuse Research Corporation in the United States.
 
Together with a system of loudspeakers installed around the base, the Giraffe/LCMR combination provided the ‘sense and warn’ elements of C-RAM and integrated with other ‘pillars’ such as the C² elements, UAVs and the US Persistent Threat Detection System (PTDS) aerostat.
 
Earlier in Iraq, C-RAM systems in use by the US and UK included an ‘intercept’ pillar in the form of a land-based variant of Raytheon’s Phalanx Close In Weapons System (CIWS).
 
The ability of the C-RAM elements at Tarin Kot and the forward operating bases to provide adequate warning of incoming indirect fire was well appreciated by Australian and coalition forces stationed there.
 
The system at Tarin Kot provided between 5-20 seconds warning of an attack (depending upon the type of projectile and the distance it was launched from), adequate to either seek the cover of a protected structure (the ‘protection’ pillar of C-RAM), or two lie down on the ground if caught in the open.
 
By way of example in March 2011, the commander of the first deployment (C-RAM-1) Major Corey Shillabeer said that every indirect fire attack up to that time had been detected in enough time to provide adequate warning.
 
“Anywhere between five and twenty seconds worth of warning provides soldiers enough time to react and be able to hit the ground,” he told Army News.
 
“If they are on the ground when a rocket goes off they have a far better chance of survival, in fact, a five times better chance of survival than standing.”
 
Anecdotally, ADM understands that only one or two attacks towards the end of the C-RAM mission in Afghanistan escaped detection altogether and these were of the rocket propelled grenade type, fired from very short range, which are notoriously difficult to counter. 
 
Saab, manufacturers of the Giraffe AMB, claims an uptime of 98 per cent during the Tarin Kot deployments and say that there were no fatalities due to a missed rocket warning.  
 
Since the end of operations in Afghanistan, the Giraffe AMB radars have been refurbished by the manufacturer in Sweden and returned to Australia.
 
Together with the returned LCMRs, they are presently assigned to the Army’s 16th Air Land Regiment, formerly the 16th Air Defence Regiment, in South Australia.
 
However the future of this equipment hinges on the outcomes of the FSR and Project Land 19/7B.
 
Defence notes that the project will provide the Joint Force with persistent defence against the wide range of target sets mentioned earlier, but equally will be capable of reducing the risk of fratricide and increasing battlespace awareness.
 
In the absence of any updated information with regard to Defence’s current thinking or requirements, the 2012 DCP states the mitigation of enemy weapons and sensor effects will be ‘scale able from Sense & Warn (consequence reduction) to interception (threat removal)’.
 
“This capability is planned to enable the land force to contribute to the Australian Air Defence System and Joint Airspace Management,” said a 
Defence spokesperson. “This will improve Joint Force effectiveness and survivability in future operations.”
 
In this context, the GBAMD system is intended to subsume the existing C-RAM capability and replace 16ALR’s very short range air defence (VSHORAD) Saab RBS 70 missile and Lockheed Martin portable surveillance and target acquisition radar – extended range (PSTAR-ER) systems.
 
C-RAM of course is not a product, but a ‘system of systems’ and there is a proliferation of sensors, weapons and Command and Control systems available in the market place today.
 
In terms of sensors, electronically-scanned radars are replacing their mechanically-scanned forebears and Command and Control systems now have to fully integrate into a defence-force wide Command, Control, Communications, Computers, & Intelligence (C4I) systems.
 
However from an ‘intercept’ point of view, the development of laser technology into viable weapons of war promises to revolutionise the way incoming threats are defeated.
 
Israel’s Rafael for example has developed its Iron Beam system, which was displayed at last years’ Singapore Air Show and has reportedly demonstrated its ability to destroy incoming mortar and artillery rounds, as well as downing small UAVs.
 
Raytheon built the world’s first working laser in 1960 and is today working on a number of systems, including a Humvee-mounted High Energy Laser weapon for the US Marines and a laser version of the Phalanx CIWS system.
 
Lockheed Martin is also active in the field, having demonstrated its Area Defence Anti-Munitions (ADAM) system against rockets and UAVs and there are European systems also under development.    
 
In terms of Land 19/7B however it remains to be seen what role any of these will play in the Ground-Based Air and Missile Defence system ultimately acquired. The phrase may well be over-used, but in this pre-Force Structure Review environment, ‘only time will tell’.
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