The Principal Anti-Air Missile System (PAAMS) is a joint programme developed by France, Italy, and the United Kingdom for an integrated anti-aircraft warfare system. The prime contractor is EUROPAAMS, a joint venture between Eurosam (66%) and UKAMS (33%). In the United Kingdom, PAAMS has been given the designation Sea Viper. [1]
The system equips the Horizon-class frigates in French and Italian service as well as the British Type 45 destroyers.
PAAMS was originally intended to be deployed in the 'Common New Generation Frigate' (also known as the Horizon-class frigate) for the navies of the United Kingdom, France, and Italy. [2] The French DGA placed a contract with EUROPAAMS on 11 August 1999 for the development and initial production of the PAAMS warfare system along with the associated Long Range Radar (LRR) system. The contract included one PAAMS system and one LRR for each of the first British, French, and Italian new class of warships. Irreconcilable differences in the design requirements and workshare disagreements led to the United Kingdom leaving the 'Common New Generation Frigate' project in October 1999. After withdrawing, Britain instead decided to pursue a national warship design, designated the Type 45 destroyer. The United Kingdom remained committed to the PAAMS project. [3] As a result of efforts to achieve economies of scale, the PAAMS command and control system shares common architecture between the Horizon class and Type 45 destroyers. In 2009, PAAMS(S) was given the service name 'Sea Viper' by the Royal Navy. [1]
Both variants of the PAAMS operate in conjunction with the S1850M Long Range Early Warning Radar.
PAAMS is designed to track, target and destroy a variety of high-performance air threats, including saturation attacks of very low altitude, supersonic cruise missiles, fighter aircraft, and UAVs. PAAMS can launch eight missiles in under ten seconds with its Sylver Vertical Launching System, and simultaneously guide up to 16 missiles. [4] The PAAMS(S) variant consists of both the SAMPSON and S1850M long-range radars and is capable of tracking in excess of 1,000 targets at ranges of up to 400 km. BAE Systems also claims that its SAMPSON radar has "excellent detection of stealth aircraft and missiles". [5] Like the later baselines of the US Aegis Combat System, the PAAMS can engage multiple targets simultaneously. [6] [7] [8]
The Type 23 frigate or Duke class is a class of frigates built for the United Kingdom's Royal Navy. The ships are named after British Dukes, thus leading to the class being commonly known as the Duke class. The first Type 23, HMS Norfolk, was commissioned in 1989, and the sixteenth, HMS St Albans was commissioned in June 2002. They form the core of the Royal Navy's destroyer and frigate fleet and serve alongside the Type 45 destroyers. They were designed for anti-submarine warfare, but have been used for a range of uses. Ten Type 23 frigates remain in service with the Royal Navy, with three vessels having been sold to the Chilean Navy, one being retired in 2021, and two being retired in 2023.
MBDA is a European multinational developer and manufacturer of missiles. It was created in December 2001 after the merger of the main French, British and Italian missile systems companies; Matra, BAe Dynamics and Alenia. These were previously the missile subsidiaries of Aérospatiale-Matra, BAE Systems and Finmeccanica. The company's headquarters are located in Le Plessis-Robinson, France.
The Type 45 destroyer, also known as the D or Daring class, is a class of six guided-missile destroyers built for the United Kingdom's Royal Navy in the early 21st century. The class is primarily designed for anti-aircraft and anti-missile warfare and is built around the PAAMS air-defence system using the SAMPSON Active electronically scanned array (AESA) and the S1850M long-range radars. The first three destroyers were assembled by BAE Systems Surface Fleet Solutions from partially prefabricated "blocks" built at different shipyards; the remaining three were built by BAE Systems Maritime – Naval Ships. The first ship in the Daring class, HMS Daring, was launched on 1 February 2006 and commissioned on 23 July 2009.
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Sea Wolf is a naval surface-to-air missile system designed and built by BAC, later to become British Aerospace (BAe) Dynamics, and now MBDA. It is an automated point-defence weapon system designed as a short-range defence against both sea-skimming and high angle anti-ship missiles and aircraft. The Royal Navy has fielded two versions, the GWS-25 Conventionally Launched Sea Wolf (CLSW) and the GWS-26 Vertically Launched Sea Wolf (VLSW) forms. In Royal Navy service Sea Wolf is being replaced by Sea Ceptor.
The Horizon class (French: Classe Horizon; Italian: Classe Orizzonte) is a class of air-defence destroyers in service with the French and Italian navies. They are designated as destroyers by the Italians and using NATO classification but are referred to as "frigates" by the French. The programme started as the Common New Generation Frigate (CNGF), a three-nation collaboration between France, the United Kingdom, and Italy to develop a new generation of air-defence warships. Differing national requirements, workshare disagreements and delays led to the UK withdrawing from the project in 1999 to develop the Type 45 destroyer.
The SAMPSON is a multi-function dual-face active electronically scanned array radar produced by BAE Systems Maritime. It is the fire control radar component of the Sea Viper naval air defence system. The Sea Viper system is also known as PAAMS(S) to denote the use of the SAMPSON radar and to distinguish it from the PAAMS system on the Franco-Italian Horizon-class frigate.
Future planning of the Royal Navy's capabilities is set through periodic Defence Reviews carried out by the British Government. The Royal Navy's role in the 2020s, and beyond, is outlined in the 2021 defence white paper, which was published on 22 March 2021. The white paper is one component of the Integrated Review of Security, Defence, Development and Foreign Policy, titled as Global Britain in a Competitive Age which was published on 16 March 2021.
Sea Dart, or GWS.30 was a Royal Navy surface-to-air missile system designed in the 1960s and entering service in 1973. It was fitted to the Type 42 destroyers, Type 82 destroyer and Invincible-class aircraft carriers of the Royal Navy. Originally developed by Hawker Siddeley, the missile was built by British Aerospace after 1977. It was withdrawn from service in 2012.
The FREMM, which stands for "European multi-purpose frigate", is a Franco-Italian family of multi-purpose frigates designed by Naval Group and Fincantieri. In France, this surface combatant is known as the "Aquitaine class", while in Italy it is known as the "Bergamini class". The lead ship of the class, Aquitaine, was commissioned in November 2012 by the French Navy. Italy has ordered six general purpose and four anti-submarine variants. France, on the other hand, has ordered six anti-submarine variants and two air-defense ones.
A stealth ship is a ship that employs stealth technology construction techniques in an effort to make it harder to detect by one or more of radar, visual, sonar, and infrared methods.
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The S1850M is a long-range radar with a digital antenna array for wide area search in elevation. The S1850M is manufactured by Thales and BAE Systems Integrated System Technologies. It is a modified version of the Thales Nederland SMART-L radar. The S1850M is advertised as being capable of fully automatic detection, track initiation, and tracking of up to 1,000 targets at a range of 400 kilometres (250 mi). It is also claimed to be highly capable of detecting stealth targets, and able to detect and track outer atmosphere objects at short range, enabling it to form part of a Theatre Ballistic Missile Defence system.
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This is a list of Active Royal Navy weapon systems.
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