Royal Australian Navy to get FATS

8th September 2016 - 07:30 GMT | by The Shephard News Team

RSS

BAE Systems Australia will provide the Royal Australian Navy (RAN) with an improved anti-ship missile test capability under a $32 million, three year contract announced on 6 September.

The company will design, develop, manufacture, test and deliver a Future Advanced Threat Simulator (FATS) suite; an airborne radar system designed to closely emulate the in-flight behaviour of a range of anti-ship missiles.

The system will give the RAN a test and evaluation and fleet training capability to assist with the development of advanced maritime self-protection concepts.

In flight mode, FATS is configured in an underwing pod and flown against the target ship at low altitude from a Learjet carriage aircraft. This enables FATS to simulate the flight profile of a sea-skimming anti-ship missile whilst also closely emulating the behaviour of the missile’s seeker. The ship’s crew and its self defence systems are exercised as the ship performs actions aimed at defeating the incoming missile.

Work on the contract is set to begin this month at the company’s Edinburgh Parks facility in South Australia.