MBDA’s Air Defence System for Pak Navy
According to reports, the Pakistan Navy has selected the European consortium MBDA’s Albatros next-generation air defense system for the Milgem Corvettes purchased from Turkey. MBDA has shares of companies from three European countries. French Airbus with 37.5% stake, British BAE Systems has a 37.5% stake and Italian Leonardo has a 25% stake.
Albatros NG uses CAMM-ER (Common Anti-Air Modular Missile) extended range version. The system can intercept multiple targets simultaneously.
With 160Kg of weight Albatros NBAD (Naval Based Air Defence System), can intercept a variety of aerial threats from a distance of 45km.
If this news is true then it is possible that this Italian company Leonardo has negotiated with Pakistan, because we have good defence relations with Italy. Earlier, we also used AW139 helicopters of the same Italian company. We also have Italian support in the Navy’s Midget submarine. Now let’s talk about the basic features of this system.
The capabilities of this air defense system
As for the Albatros NG, it uses the All-Weather Air Defense System Common Anti-Air Modular Missile (CAM). It is a compact missile, so multiple missiles can be installed in a limited space. The MBDA has introduced an extended range version of this missile for the Air Defense System and the SEA CEPTOR Air Defense System, called the CAMER, the Common Anti-Air Modular Missile Extended Range. This air defense system uses soft vertical launch technology which not only reduces the weight of the system but also makes it easier to install. In addition, thanks to the soft vertical launch, its launch signature has been minimized and high performance has been ensured. The company claims that the system can work with any 3D surveillance radar. The Albatross weighs 160 kg and length 4.2 meters, with supersonic speed, the ER version has a range of over 40 km.
This system can be installed on any of the 50 meter OPVs, frigates and destroyers. Therefore, if this news is true, then it is very possible that this air defence system will be seen in the existing or future OPVs of Pakistan. However, this is a wild guess.
Due to its compactness, the system’s four missiles can be installed in conventional vertical launch cells, which means that a total of 64 missiles of the system could be installed on a Pakistan Navy Milgem Class Corvette.
It may be recalled that the CamCR missile is also mounted on the MBDA’s C-Septer air defence system, which is mounted on the British Type 23 and Type 26 frigates. The system will be integrated with the adventure management system of the Turkish company Havelsan on the Pakistan Navy’s Milgem Corvette. It may be recalled that MBD had announced on its website in March that it had received an international order for the new system. But the name of this international customer was not disclosed. There are speculations that this international customer is probably Pakistan. According to the press release, it was said that the system will be in service with this customer in 2024. It is to be noted that earlier there were reports of installation of the naval version of the Chinese LY80 Surface-to-Air Missile on Milgem Corvettes. However, its range is also forty kilometres.
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