by Ami Rojkes Dombe
The discovery of oil and gas reserves positioned the task of defending the “exclusive economic zone” as a top priority. Rafael has consolidated a holistic defensive concept for the naval arena to suit these scenarios. Exclusive interview
Offshore
energy production is gaining momentum worldwide, and while
international energy corporations are searching for gas and oil at the
depths of the ocean, at Rafael they are already thinking about securing
the energy resources on the naval arena. Consequently, they have come up
with a holistic defensive concept designated Security Integrated
Systems for Strategic Asset Protection or SIS in short. This concept is
relevant to the maritime and land environments and utilizes various
capabilities developed by Rafael and its subsidiaries.
The concept consists of four primary elements –
surveillance, communication, command and control and response measures.
“Today’s clients seek ‘end-to-end’ solutions by a single supplier,”
explains Gadi L., Head of Naval Warfare Systems at Rafael. One of
Rafael’s advantages for the naval arena is the Protector – an Unmanned
Surface Vessel (USV) that has already proven its operational
effectiveness. Additionally, Rafael has executed several projects
involving land defense and terrain dominance in recent years, and
applies this experience to the naval arena.
Modularity is the Name of the Game
According to L., the solution is made up of several
elements. First and foremost – the command and control system. This
system collects information from all of the various sensors and fuses
these data into a real-time battle picture. Rafael offers two systems in
this category: the first is based on technology by mPrest, a Rafael
subsidiary noted for the command and control subsystem of the Iron Dome
system and the “Information Grid” command and control system designed
for the Israel Electric Corporation. Both systems are based on a
flexible architecture that enables the integration of almost any sensor
type in the command and control system. Rafael’s IMILITE system is a
complementary element performing visual fusion of data from various
sources. The objective is to provide the client with a real-time status
picture.
The next element is communication. In the context of naval
or land scenarios, surveillance is provided by an extensive range of
sensors in space, in the air, at sea and on land – stationary and mobile
– and all of those sensors must communicate with the command and
control system. The communication traffic consists of voice, video and
data and should reach the point where fusion takes place at the highest
possible quality. Rafael’s IMILITE system plays a major role in this
context, too.
As far as surveillance systems are concerned, Rafael uses
optical and Radar systems, either mounted or stationary. Radar systems
are normally acquired from third-party vendors. Optical systems include
Rafael’s own products such as RecceLite, SpotLite-P, Stalker, Toplite
and Recce-U. Once again, the idea is to integrate different systems.
Additionally, the people at Rafael say that there is an intention to
employ, for the naval arena, a UAV helicopter by Schiebel (e.g.
Camcopter) or a UAV by Aeronautics fitted with a payload by Controp, as
well as a surveillance aerostat by Shilat Optronics, both of which are
Rafael subsidiaries. Another system category Rafael offers consists of
electronic warfare systems for the naval arena, including integrated
decoy systems.
A Suitable Response for Every Target
The fourth element consists of the response. After the
target has been identified, classified and defined as hostile, it must
be addressed. For this purpose, Rafael offers such weapon systems as the
Spike missile system and The Typhoon series of Remotely Controlled
Weapon Stations (RCWS). These weapon systems may be mounted on board the
Protector USV and the vessel may be dispatched to engage the target. As
it is a remotely-controlled, unmanned vessel, it offers a quick and
effective solution that reduces the risk to human life and is capable of
dealing with fast targets as well.
According to L., the Protector is a modular platform that
may be adapted to various response configurations, including
configurations fitted with 7.62mm/0.5” caliber Mini-Typhoon RCWS or even
with a water cannon when a non-lethal response is required (as in the
vicinity of an offshore drilling rig). Along with the response weapons,
the Protector may also be fitted with surveillance measures, thereby
extending the situational awareness range of the naval force.
“The operational concept of the Protector includes
protection for naval forces – not just for individual platforms,” says
L. “For example, when a task force consisting of several vessels departs
on a mission, it can launch several Protector USVs to provide it with
protection as well as with intelligence by forming an external circle
around it.” The Protector USVs may be commanded from multiple command
centers, for redundancy purposes, with just one command center actually
communicating with the USV at any given moment. If one command center
fails, command may be handed over to an alternate command center.
The actual operation of the naval defense layout is carried
out by means of shore-based systems and systems mounted on naval
platforms. According to L., the layout may be operated from the shore or
from the platform. The shore-based layout may be located at a permanent
base, either stationary or mobile, in the form of command trailers and
mounted surveillance systems, for situations when the user wants to
exercise ad-hoc command over the naval layout in the context of an
on-going operation. “The operator can be located at a command post on
the shore and operate the naval defensive layout. It may be fitted in a
mobile trailer, or it may be operated from a naval vessel. We know how
to provide operational flexibility,” says L.
In addition to the shore-based systems and mounted systems,
the people at Rafael say that they also have dedicated solutions for
offshore drilling rigs, but were not forthcoming with any additional
information.
Open-Ended Architecture
Admittedly, a holistic defense concept like the one
presented by Rafael for the naval arena sounds more “correct” from an
operational point of view, but the question is whether you can sell a
”defense concept” to clients overseas. Eventually, it is more complex to
sell a complete naval defense and response layout than to sell a
stand-alone system, whatever it may be. In this context, L. says,
Rafael’s sales people normally encounter one of two situations on the
global market.
In the first and less complex situation, the client does
not have a naval defense layout to begin with – not even a partial one.
In this case, Rafael’s people, along with the client, consolidate the
operational need and the operational concept and match the defense and
response measures. According to L., Rafael is currently executing a
project of this type for an unnamed country.
In other cases, Rafael’s people come to a country that
already has such a layout, or parts of it. In such cases, the command
and control system and the defense and response measures should be
integrated in the existing configuration. “This is the reason why we
chose an open-ended architecture for our command and control system. In
this way, it may be adapted to the client’s existing systems,” explains
L. “In this category, too, we are currently executing a ground project
in the field of HLS. The open-ended architecture enables us to integrate
third-party elements in the complete layout. One example is the
integration of Radar systems. Rafael does not develop Radars, but Radars
are integrated in our SIS layouts nevertheless.”
Ami Rojkes Dombe
Source: http://www.israeldefense.co.il/en/content/objective-defending-energy-sources
Copyright - Original materials copyright (c) by the authors.
No comments:
Post a Comment