May 30, 2007: Britain is buying the new American Phalanx
variant, to protect its air base in southern Iraq. The C-RAM (counter-rockets,
artillery and mortars) version of the Phalanx is designed to protect large
bases from mortar and rocket attack. The original Phalanx was a 20mm cannon
designed to defend American warships against anti-ship missiles. Phalanx does
this by using a radar that immediately starts firing at any incoming missile it
detects. The C-RAM system has its software modified to detect smaller objects
(like 82mm mortar shells). This came about when it was discovered that the
original Phalanx could take out incoming 155mm artillery shells. This
capability is what led to C-RAM.
Other modifications include linking Phalanx to the
Lightweight Counter Mortar Radar and Q-36 Target Acquisition Radar. When these
radars detect incoming fire, C-RAM points toward the incoming objects and
prepares to fire at anything that comes within range (about 2,000 meters) of
its cannon. C-RAM uses high explosive 20mm shells, that detonate near the
target, spraying it with fragments. By the time these fragments reach the
ground, they are generally too small to injure anyone. The original Phalanx
used 20mm depleted uranium shells, to slice through incoming missiles. Phalanx
fires shells at the rate of 75 per second. Another advantage of C-RAM, is that
it makes a distinctive noise when firing, warning people nearby that a mortar
or rocket attack is underway, giving people an opportunity to duck inside if
they are out and about.
The first C-RAM was sent to Iraq last Fall, to
protect the Green Zone (the large area in Baghdad turned into an American
base). It was found that C-RAM could knock down 70-80 percent of the rockets
and mortar shells fired within range of its cannon. It took about a year to
develop C-RAM, and another version, using a high-powered laser, instead of the
20mm gun, is in development.
