Hi there, can anyone tell me why the Royal Navy uses both Phalanx and Goalkeeper as CIWS's? Seems that Goalkeeper is more likely to be fitted on capital ships whilst Phalanx is more likely to be fitted to frigates or destroyers.
Why go to the trouble of 2 systems and the training and support that requires when one could do both jobs? Anyone know which is better, I heard the USN held trials and concluded Goalkeeper is better as it can counter armoured warheads of antiship missiles and can fire proximity fuzed shells, however they are going ahead with Phalanx modifications regardless, also I heard Goalkeeper needs to be built into the structure of the ship extensively whilst Phalanx can be simply welded on?
Also does anyone know of Sea RAM, I saw some pics of it fitted to an RN warship, however I can't remember which. Is this going to replace the gun part of Phalanx in the RN, or just supplement it? As Seawolf can be employed as an antimissile missile it seems wasteful to procure 2 of these systems as well as 2 CIWS's! Also Seawolf, is it intended for use as a point air defence missile or as a CIWS. I read somewhere that it has a range of 10km which suggests AAW, but also that it has intercepted 4.5in shells which suggests CIWS.
Thanks everyone
Ian
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