4
News in brief Underwater training Thales and Atlas Elektronik have signed an agreement with Tawazun Economic Council at IDEX 2019 to establish a new underwater training centre in Abu Dhabi. According to a joint statement, the new centre will provide facilities to support antisubmarine warfare and mine countermeasures training for the UAE Naval Forces. Mathar Al Romaithi, chief economic development officer of Tawazun Economic Council, said the centre will enable the Armed Forces to keep abreast of the rapidly changing technological developments in military and naval operations. n
janes.com/idex
Autonomous futures o BY RICHARD SCOTT Al Marakeb Boats (Stand B-038), the UAE-based manufacturer of high-performance GRP and marine autonomous vessels, has been conducting live autonomous demonstrations of an unmanned surface vessel (USV) from a command and control station located on its stand at NAVDEX. The 13m AHM13 USV has been operating from Ghantoot Naval Base, more than 70km from the NAVDEX show site. The system is being run by Al Marakeb’s patented MAP Pro technology, which comprises a series of software and component ‘building blocks’ designed to enable the conversion of existing vessels for remote and autonomous missions. Constructed by Al Hareb Marine,
with system integration performed by Al Marakeb, the AHM13 USV fitted with a MAP Pro device allows for communication between the vessels systems and the C2-20 command and control station inside the NAVDEX hall. For the purposes of the live demonstration, the system is displaying engine diagnostics, route management and a live camera feed, as well as a radar display and obstacle warning alarm. The AHM13 USV is armed with an IGG Aselsan STAMP remote weapon station, the operation of which is also enabled by the MAP Pro system. Al Marakeb is also showing the new 11m AHM11 USV, which is being displayed with IGG Aselsan’s MILAS missile launcher system. On Tuesday it was announced that the Defense and Security
Development Fund of Tawazun Economic Council would invest in Al Marakeb Boats in return for a 30 per cent stake. Tawazun’s
Decoys at sea French countermeasures and pyrotechnics group Lacroix Defense (Stand 07-B47) is showcasing its Sylena family of decoy launching systems at IDEX 2019. Designed to provide soft-kill protection for ships from patrol boats up to frigates, Sylena employs Lacroix’s SEACLAD family of decoys – more than 10,000 of which have been delivered to date – to counter missiles using radio frequency (RF) or imaging infrared (IIR) seekers. Another SEACLAD decoy is available for torpedo defence. Sylena uses simple fixed launchers located on the ship upper decks. Lacroix claims omnidirectional (360°) protection, regardless of the threat’s relative bearing, thanks to the omnidirectional characteristics of the decoy payloads deployed.
While many naval decoy launching systems deploy chaff, Sylena utilises a different countermeasures payload in the form of corner reflector (CNR) technology. According to Lacroix, the discrimination logic used in modern radar seeker systems has rendered chaff ineffective. The company argues that a CNR payload – embodied in the SEALEM decoy round – provides a far more realistic RF response over a broad frequency band, adding: “Trainable launchers are not required to deploy corner reflector centroid seduction, making [Sylena] a cost-effective solution.” The SEALIR IIR decoy is also part of Lacroix’s SEACLAD decoy family. The composition of this single-burst decoy is intended to produce a ship-like infrared
