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the Phalanx Block-1B Baseline-1 weapon
is still in production for international na-
vies, while existing Phalanx weapons can
all be upgraded to the Phalanx Block-1B
Baseline-2 status: “New Phalanx systems
are also available where some of the large
mechanical structures come from exist-
ing inventory and are reworked to a ‘like
new’ condition,” Mr. McDonnell added:
“When this inventory is depleted new sys-
tems will be made from scratch.”
In developing the Phalanx Block-1B
Baseline-2 design, the major interest on the
part of the US Navy, the Phalanx’s main
customer, was on continuing to improve
the system’s reliability, Mr. McDonnell ex-
plained, ensuring that: “its availability is
as high as possible, its readiness is as high
as possible, because when you need it, you
need it, you can’t afford for the system to
ever be down,” he told AMR. Mr. McDon-
nell also highlighted the development of
the SeaRAM: a variant of Phalanx in which
the gun is removed and an eleven-round
RIM-166 Rolling Airframe Missile semi-
active radar homing/infrared guided
surface-to-air missile launcher installed
in its place. The idea is to combine the ac-
curacy, range and manoeuvrability of the
missile with the search-and-track sensor
and quick-response capability of the Pha-
lanx, according to Raytheon. To this end,
the SeaRam is being installed on a number
of US Navy ‘Arleigh Burke’ class destroy-
ers, including the USS Carney, USS Ross,
USS Donald Cook and USS Porter, although
there are no details as to when these instal-
lations could be concluded. The SeaRAM
can be used in conjunction with the tradi-
tional CIWS system for a layered defence,
this is the approach being taken on the US
destroyers, for example. This could mean
that ships will carry a mixed complement
of gun and missile equipped Phalanxes.
The Japan Maritime Self Defence Force’s
‘Izumo’ class helicopter carriers will also
feature both systems: “That’s an interest-
ing combination that I see becoming more
appealing to navies,” Mr. McDonnell said.
Goalkeeper
Another big name in the CIWS world is
Goalkeeper, a 30mm system originally
developed by Signaal, which is now the
responsibility of Thales. While it is most
associated with the Koninklijke Marine
(Royal Netherlands Navy), Goalkeeper
has a range of international users, such
as Portugal and the Republic of Korea
(ROK). The last Goalkeeper for the Neth-
erlands rolled off the production line in
the 1990s, while the most recent deliv-
ery was made to the ROK Navy in 2006.
However, Thales has continued working
on it in the intervening decades, with
improvements carried out for the Dutch
in the mid-1990s. The company is now
working on another upgrade contract
for that customer; under this deal, which
was signed in 2012, Thales is improving
the optronic capabilities of the system, its
algorithms and is adding a new opera-
tor console, among other enhancements,
said Monique Kedde, product and proj-
ect manager for Goalkeeper Upkeep for
the Royal Netherlands Navy. While there
have been a number of fixes to obsoles-
cence problems since the weapon was
introduced in 1979, this current upgrade
is a larger effort: “to enhance the lifetime
of the Goalkeeper,” she said. Ms. Kedde
added that this upgrade is available to
export customers through the Goalkeeper
Service Life Extension Programme (Goal-
keeper SLEP).
Besides improving the weapons’ per-
formance against air threats, as illustrated
by the upgrade for the Royal Nether-
is offered for all Phalanx configurations
from Raytheon on a case-by-case basis,
Mr. McDonnell said.
History
CIWS were originally designed to ad-
dress missile threats, though the dangers
to ships have evolved over the years.
Mr. McDonnell pointed to the attack on
the USS Cole, a US Navy ‘Arleigh Burke’
class destroyer attacked by Al Qaeda in-
surgents in the port of Aden in October
2000 killing 17 crew members and injur-
ing 29. This was: “widely believed to
have caused the navy to enter into a pro-
gramme of record to upgrade the entire
fleet with Phalanx having a secondary
mission of protecting the ship from sur-
face or slow-moving air targets; i.e. (a)
surface mode,” Mr. McDonnell continued.
All Phalanx Block-1B systems have this
surface mode capability. The US Navy has
now replaced all but a handful of its Pha-
lanx systems with the new baseline, Mr.
McDonnell said, with the upgrades likely
to be completed by early 2019. However,
Thales
The Goalkeeper is based
on a 30mm gun. It is
in service in a number
of countries worldwide,
including the Netherlands,
Portugal and the ROK.