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Subject:
Naval Gunfire Heard Over Baghdad
James Dunnigan
6/30/2005 1:00:43 AM
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Two Phalanx anti missile system have been sent to Iraq, modified to destroy
rockets and mortar shells fired into the Green Zone (the large area in Baghdad
turned into an American base). The Phalanx is a 20mm cannon designed to defend
American warships, by destroying anti-ship missiles. Phalanx does this by using
a radar that immediately starts firing at any incoming missile it detects. The
modified versions sent to Iraq, called the C-RAM (Counter-Rocket Artillery
Mortar) system has had it?s software modified to detect smaller objects (like
82mm mortar shells). The original Phalanx, it was found, could take out incoming
155mm artillery shells. This capability is what led to C-RAM. The 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 of its cannon. C-RAM also 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
Vulcan used 20mm depleted uranium shells, to slice through incoming missiles.
The C-RAM, like the Vulcan, 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 in the Green Zone that a mortar or rocket attack is underway, giving
people an opportunity to duck inside if they are out and about. Without C-RAM to
stop the incoming shells, they usually land without hitting people. The Green
Zone is a big place, but something usually gets damaged during each attack, and
sometimes the shells are duds, meaning they remain dangerous until found and
removed. It took about a year, from the time an army general demanded that some
kind of anti-mortar weapon be found, until the first C-RAMs arrived in Iraq.
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