Terma recently signed two contracts with Damen Schelde Naval Shipbuilding (DSNS) for the C-Guard self-protection Soft Kill Weapon System (SKWS).
To a South American navy, Terma will deliver C-Guard for integration in the combat suite on a new build frigate. The other contract, with an Asian navy, is for Terma’s supply of the CONTRALTO anti torpedo decoy capability to an already existing system.
The two contracts add to the increasing number of users of the Terma C-Guard system with almost 200 systems in use worldwide. One of the contracts also adds the upgraded and important capability to the system of being able to launch anti-torpedo decoy rounds.
Ultimately, the vessels’ soft kill capability may be the last line of defense. Therefore, the concept behind the system is based on effectiveness, reliability, redundancy, and ease of operation.
The C-Guard system uses the NATO standard in decoy rounds, SeaGnat or 130mm, and will provide protection against any type of threat, including:
· Radio Frequency (RF) threats – the C-Guard algorithm offers the flexibility of deploying chaff as sub munitions or as a large chaff burst.
· InfraRed (IR) and Imaging IR threats – An increasing threat especially in the littoral zone. The 130mm rounds used today apply sub munitions fired close to own ship, and the multi-azimuth tubes of the C-Guard will allow the algorithm to calculate precise firing of IR to provide 360 degree coverage.
The C-Guard algorithm can effectively calculate the heat dissemination of flare decoys and in combination with chaff decoys obscure the IR image of a naval vessel.
· Dual Seeker threats – the algorithm supports dual mode rounds containing both flare and chaff payloads. This provides an advanced coverage technique towards dual seeker threats.
· Torpedo threats – unparalleled, C-Guard supports the firing of the latest acoustic anti-torpedo decoys, including state-of-the-art Canto by DCNS.
