Crowsnest integrated AW101 Merlins : Thales Graphics The UK MoD and Lockheed Martin UK have selected Thales as the bidder to provide th...
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| Crowsnest integrated AW101 Merlins :Thales Graphics |
The Crowsnest will be the ‘eyes and ears’ of the fleet, designed to provide early detection of potential air and surface threats and provide military commanders time to take essential and often pivotal decisions.
The Crowsnest consists the Thales Searchwater radar and Cerberus mission system, fitted to specially modified AgustaWestland AW101 Merlin helicopters, to provide the Navy with an airborne surveillance and control capability (ASaC).
The fleet of Merlin helicopters will replace the Royal Navy’s outgoing Sea King Mark 7 ASaC force which is fitted with an earlier version of the Searchwater and Cerberus systems. The new capability will enter operational service in 2018 when the last of the Sea King ASaC helicopters are retired.
Lockheed Martin UK will now conclude the project’s £27 million assessment phase, expected in 2016, supported by Thales and AgustaWestland.
The Thales solution is an updated, improved and repackaged role-fit version of the Cerberus tactical sensor suite currently in service on the Sea King Mk7 helicopter.
The design comprises of a single mechanically scanned radar head which uses an innovative system to provide 360 degree visibility from the underside of the helicopter, and which folds up to the side of the aircraft when not in operation.
The surveillance capability in its modern format was born out of a requirement to protect the Royal Navy’s task group from sea-skimming missile attack during the re-capture of the Falkland Islands in 1982.
Improvements to the new system include enhanced performance and data processing, as well as the addition of new modes to the operationally proven, high-powered multi-mission radar. An improved human machine interface, reduced weight and built-in training features have all been designed to future proof the highly successful system. It will also be capable of being fitted to both rotary and fixed-wing platforms.
In the 2010 Strategic Defence and Security Review, UK decided to regain its Carrier Strike capability by 2020, by building two Queen Elizabeth Class Aircraft carriers, and equipping it with F-35 Joint Strike Fighter (JSF) aircraft. Weighing around 65,000 tons, these will the biggest ships ever built for the Royal Navy.
