The origins of what became NASAMS (National Advanced Surface-to-Air Missile System), the requirements for which were developed in the late 1980s and early 1990s by the Norwegian Air Force, can be traced back to a modernized version of the NOAH (Norwegian Adapted Hawk) ground-based air defense system by Raytheon.
Introduced into service with the Norwegian Air Force in 1988, the NOAH base complex consisted of ready-made components leased from the US Marine Corps, including the Raytheon MIM-23B I-Hawk medium-range semi-active radar missile, the AN / MPQ-46 High Doppler radar Power Illuminator (HPI) and a variant of the Hughes AN / TPQ-36 Firefinder firing position detection radar, which, thanks to software funding from the Norwegian Air Force, was turned into a three-dimensional airspace survey radar, designated TPQ-36A. These components were integrated with a new command and control system, including color displays, developed by the Norwegian company Kongsberg Defense & Aerospace (Kongsberg) for the NOAH complex.
Both the command and control system and the TPQ-36A were the forerunners of the modern Fire Distribution Center (FDC) currently deployed by Kongsberg and the Raytheon AN / MPQ-64 Sentinel radar, respectively.
Although the NOAH complex actually became the ancestor of medium-range air defense systems with a network architecture (a general picture of the airspace and the coordination of fire missions), its capabilities were limited. In fact, the NOAH system built around the launch pad offered one missile / one firing unit capabilities, and although four such units in one Air Force division were networked, the division was essentially only able to operate on four separate targets simultaneously. However, the NOAH system was the first step in the planned development of the air defense capabilities of the Norwegian Air Force.
Faced with a reduction in the life cycle cost of leased systems and replacement of redundant technologies and components, as well as the threat of massive use of cruise missiles in the late 1980s, the Norwegian Air Force recognized the need to move from a single launch pad system to a solution based on the principle of a distributed, network-centric approach to air defense operations established by the NOAH system, but would have a distributed architecture in order to increase survivability and capabilities for simultaneous destruction of targets.
Later in January 1989, the Norwegian Air Force awarded a contract to a joint venture between Kongsberg and Raytheon for a new medium-range network-centric air defense system, a further development of the NOAH system.
In this decision, the HPI Doppler radar was excluded, the Raytheon TPQ-36A radar, upgraded to the MPO-64M1 configuration, was left, and the I-Hawk interceptor missile was replaced with a new mobile missile launcher with AIM-120 AMRAAM missiles (advanced medium-range air-to -air missile - an advanced medium-range air-to-air missile), identical to the one that was previously included in the armament complex of the F-16A / D multipurpose fighter of the Norwegian Air Force. The dual use of the AIM-120 AMRAAM missile is a key factor in the international recognition of the NASAMS complex. The FDC fire control center was also abandoned, but modified for the AMRAAM interceptor missile; and the NASAMS complex was born.
Cooperation between Kongsberg and Raytheon in the field of air defense began in 1968, when Raytheon entered into an agreement with Kongsberg to integrate the RIM-7 SeaSparrow missile into the armament complex of Norwegian Oslo class frigates. In the future, this cooperation continued, including on the NOAH complex and later on the NASAMS complex. Since the 90s, both companies have been collaborating in the production and promotion of NASAMS solutions.
Officially, production of the NASAMS complex began in 1992, and development ended with a series of test launches in California in June 1993; the first two divisions were deployed by the Norwegian Air Force in late 1994.
In 2013, the Air Force received from Raytheon several HML (High-Mobility Launcher) platforms for integration with the NASAMS complex. The HML lightweight launcher platform based on the HMMWV (High-Mobility Multipurpose Wheeled Vehicle) 4x4 armored vehicle carries up to six ready-to-launch AIM-120 AMRAAM missiles equipped with electronics, with which the Air Force has updated the entire existing fleet of container launchers in order to unify, reduce maintenance and cost life cycle. The modernization included the integration of GPS and orientation systems to speed up the positioning of the complex on the mobile battlefield.
Since the adoption of the Norwegian Air Force, 9 more countries - Australia, Finland, Indonesia, Lithuania, the Netherlands, Oman, Spain, the USA (to protect the capital district) and another unnamed customer - have chosen or acquired today the NASAMS complex in order to satisfy their needs for a medium-range air defense system.
Four more countries bought NASAMS command and control points for their needs: Greece for its HAWK complex acquired a battalion-level center BOC (Battalion Operation Center) and FDC; Poland bought FDC for its NSM (Naval Strike Missile) coastal defense complex; Sweden bought the GBADOC (Ground Based Air Defense Operation Center) as a common command center for several units with portable RBS 70 MANPADS; and Turkey bought VOC and FDC for its HAWK XXI complex. In 2011, all export systems received the designation National Advanced Surface-to-Air Missile System, which made it possible to continue to use the abbreviation NASAMS.
Versatility and growth
In November 2002, the Norwegian Air Force awarded the Kongsberg / Raytheon group a $ 87 million contract to upgrade their NASAMS systems with over-the-horizon guidance. NASAMS introduced an improved three-coordinate high-resolution Sentinel AN / MPQ-64F1 radar with a highly directional X-band beam (with an advanced radiation control function that minimizes the risk of revealing the position of the NASAMS complex), a passive optoelectronic / infrared station MSP 500 developed by Rheinmetall Defense Electronics, and a new mobile center GBADOC, which allows NASAMS units to integrate into the upper echelon network so that all connected NASAMS units can receive and exchange information to obtain an overall picture of the air situation.
The GBADOC uses the same equipment as the standard NASAMS FDC fire control center, which automatically performs target tracking and identification, triangulation, threat assessment and selection of the optimal fire solution, but with different software.
If a GBADOC breaks down or is destroyed during hostilities, any NASAMS FDC can take over its functions by running the GBADOC software. In the Norwegian Air Force, this upgrade was designated NASAMS II.
However, Hans Hagen of Kongsberg Defense & Aerospace cautioned against using digital indices to distinguish between the specific designs of the NASAMS complex. “From a Kongsberg / Raytheon perspective, there is definitely no NASAMS I, II or III. We carry out technological upgrades as part of the continuous evolution of the NASAMS complex. Numerical designations are internal customer designations, not Blocks, as is customary in our Kongsberg / Raytheon group. For example, the Norwegian Air Force calls its complexes NASAMS II; Finland has some technological differences and therefore the customer, but not us, gave their complexes the designation NASAMS II FIN."
The standard NASAMS complex includes an FDC, a surveillance and tracking radar, an optoelectronic sensor and several launch containers with AIM-120 AMRAAM interceptor missiles. The divisional network, as a rule, includes four NASAMS fire units. Various radars and associated FDCs are networked via radio channels, which allows real-time display of the air situation with identified targets; radar and launchers can be deployed over a large area up to 2.5 km from the FDC. Currently, one NASAMS division is capable of simultaneously carrying out 72 separate captures of targets for a long time (since 2005 it has been repeatedly demonstrated in the US metropolitan area).
Nevertheless, NASAMS is an evolving modular open architecture designed to introduce new technologies in order to optimize the potential for improvement / modernization and provide the operator with a solution to a specific fire mission. Since its inception, Kongsberg and Raytheon have tirelessly sought to complement the NASAMS base, especially Kongsberg's FDC and the integration of Raytheon's various interceptors.
The NASAMS FDC fire control center is built on flexibility, scalability and interoperability, and the open software / hardware architecture allows fully networked and distributed operations and simplifies the implementation of new technologies and capabilities.
“FDC is much more than just fire control. This is in its pure form a control and command unit, including performing fire control functions,”Hagen said. - A large set of customer-selected tactical data transmission channels [including Link 16, JRE, Link 11, Link 11B, LLAPI, ATDL-1] and the procedure for receiving and processing messages have already been implemented in FDC; the system can operate as a command and control center as part of the operational center of a separate complex, battery and division, the operational center of the brigade and above, thereby controlling and coordinating the fire of different divisions and brigades. Its functions can be expanded to a mobile monitoring and notification center."
In 2015, Kongsberg showed the next generation workstation as a low-cost upgrade to the FDC control station. Designed for physical compatibility with existing operator positions, the new ADX console is based on two shared 30-inch flat panel touchscreens (one for the tactical observation officer and one for his assistant), between which there is a common status display.
While the ADX retains the keyboard, trackball, and fixed function keys, the new HMI is primarily based on touchscreen interaction. “We've minimized the number of fixed function keys and launched more functions in the background rather than on the screen. That is, we present to the operator only the information that he really needs to see,”said Hagen.
The main elements of the new user interface include an intuitive information strip that moves from left to right, a set of cards indication - similar in principle to the icon interface of smartphones and tablets - at the top of the screen so that you can quickly switch between functions, and 3D graphics designed for providing the operator with additional information. The ADX console is currently shipped to a first unnamed customer.
Adaptable architecture
Kongsberg also developed Tactical Network Solution (TNS), a network architecture that could be tailored to customer specifications to integrate mobile, wireless and network communications. TNS, optimized for transferring fire data from a sensor to an actuator / launcher (including transferring data to a higher level), is designed to link various tasks and functions into one integrated non-hierarchical system.
The TNS architecture includes an FDC multitasking center; divisional data channel BNDL (Battalion Net Data Link), which is the basic structure that provides the distribution of a single integrated air and ground picture (SIAP) between nodes in the network; NAN access nodes (Network Access Nodes), which connect sensor and actuator elements and simplify the addition of new sensor systems and weapons; and TNS, which in theory can use any secure communications system.
Raytheon and Kongsberg have expanded the list of actuators available for use with the NASAMS FDC architecture. In September 2011, Kongsberg announced the proposed changes to this list. It included infrared-guided air-to-air missiles Raytheon AIM-9X Sidewinder and Diehl Defense IRIS-T SL (Surface Launched) and a ship-based surface-to-air missile with semi-active radar guidance RIM-162 Evolved SeaSparrow Missile (ESSM).
Although NASAMS is mostly associated with interceptor missiles such as the AMRAAM and AIM-9X, it has confirmed its compatibility with the anti-aircraft guns in service with the Norwegian Air Force, including the now decommissioned 40mm Bofors L-70 cannon. Hagen said the company is working on integrating "more modern guns," but declined to elaborate on this.
In parallel, Kongsberg has developed a new Multi-Missile Launcher (MML) for the NASAMS complex, which is designed to transport and launch six different (radio frequency, semi-active radar and infrared), ready to launch missiles, mounted on a single LAU-29 launch rail inside protective containers. MML has a direct interface between missiles and FDC, transmitting target and guidance data before and during the missile's flight. MML allows you to quickly launch up to six missiles at single or multiple air targets.
In February 2015, Raytheon significantly improved the characteristics of the NASAMS complex with an option to increase the range of the AIM-120 ground launch rocket. In the AMRAAM-ER (extended range) rocket, positioned exclusively as an additional interceptor missile for the NASAMS complex, the front part (radar guidance unit and warhead) of the AIM-120C-7 AMRAAM missile and the tail part (engine and control surface compartment) are combined) missiles RIM-162 ESSM. “This is more difficult than just gluing the two pieces together,” said a Raytheon spokesman. - We had to carry out tests to ensure the correct aerodynamics; we had to ensure that the electronics and autopilot were installed correctly and that these components worked correctly. For almost two years, intensive development has been carried out, as a result of which we have achieved the desired result.
According to Raytheon, improvements to the AMRAAM-ER missile include an increase in range of about 50% and an increase in altitude of about 70% compared to the AIM-120 variant, as well as a higher top speed and an increase in the "guaranteed target" zone.
Raytheon has been working on the AMRAAM-ER concept since 2008, but only decided to allocate its own funds for research and development in mid-2014. In order to be able to launch the AMRAAM-ER rocket. minor structural modifications were made to the NASAMS launch container, the LAU-129 launch guide, as well as minor modifications to the rocket interface unit and the FDC center software.
After intensive laboratory tests in 2015 and a series of launches at the Andoya Space Center in August 2016, the AMRAAM-ER rocket is currently being tested as part of the NASAMS complex. “We checked everything,” Hagen said. - We launched the AMRAAM-ER rocket with the NASAMS complex, it showed exactly what we expected. The rocket was launched normally and then hit a target in the form of a Meggitt Banshee 80 drone. We are currently not planning any AMRAAM-ER demonstrations, at least until we start the qualification program."
Meanwhile, the Norwegian Air Force, as part of an annual training program, conducted a series of AIM-120 missile launches to see what the NASAMS and AMRAAM combination is capable of beyond the capabilities of the existing specifications.
“When we talk about scenarios, we are referring to complex components within NASAMS that we cannot disclose. But on the other hand, we can say with confidence that, despite the complex combat scenarios, "not typical scenarios", the demonstrated probability of being hit by our system is, nevertheless, more than 90%, "Hagen said.
“FDC has now demonstrated fire control of several different actuators during test launches of HAWK, ESSM, IRIS-T SLS, AMRAAM AIM-120B / C5 / C7, AIM 9X and AMRAAM-ER missiles. Other systems can be integrated via GBDL [Ground Based Data Link], ATDL-1, Intra SHORAD Data Link [ISDL] or NATO standard data links [JREAP, Link 16, Link 11B]. In addition, we have integrated more than 10 different sensors into the complex; we have demonstrated that virtually any sensor and any actuator can be built into the FDC."
In February 2017, the Norwegian Ministry of Defense announced that, as part of Project 7628 Kampluftvern, the Norwegian army would purchase new mobile air defense systems worth $ 115 million from Kongsberg.
The Army Air Defense Complex integrates new components with existing NASAMS configuration elements, including FDC, MML (with a combination of AIM-120 and IRIS-T SL missiles), AN / MPO-64 F1 Improved Sentinel 3D X-band radar (additional radar can be added to Project 7628 Kampluftvern). “For the army complex, a cross-country platform was chosen - the M113F4 tracked chassis. While the final configuration has yet to be determined, the new all-terrain chassis component will undoubtedly remain,”Hagen said. - NASAMS is already a mobile complex, but here we are talking about an air defense system, which has increased mobility on almost all grounds.
The deliveries of the army air defense complex will go on schedule from 2020 to 2023; during this time, the complex solution will be tested by the Norwegian army as part of the acceptance tests.
Develop and integrate
NASAMS is designed to develop and integrate or leverage emerging technologies as they become available. These include advanced active and passive radars; detection and warning systems; a wider range of actuators of greater or lesser range; interception of unguided rockets, artillery shells and mines; or integration with FDC or BNDL architecture.
"One of the reasons for the growing popularity of NASAMS is that the system has a proven ability to improve with new technologies that are becoming available in the market."
For example, in the document of the Norwegian Ministry of Defense "Future Procurements for Norwegian Defense for 2018-25", released in March 2018, in 2023-2025 it is planned to modernize the NASAMS complex with longer range sensors and new missiles, as well as procurement in 2019 -2021 software / hardware for updating or replacing the NASAMS "friend or foe" identification system in order to meet the current and future NATO requirements for such systems.
In the near future, the company wants to integrate anti-unmanned aircraft capabilities into the NASAMS complex. “We look at this with different solutions,” Hagen said. "They range from basic firearms solutions - from 7.62 mm and 12.7 mm to 30 mm and 40 mm - to other technological solutions, including new technologies that are not yet sufficiently developed." The latter refers to directed energy weapons, although Hagen declined to disclose details, only noting that the FDC "has confirmed compatibility with directed energy weapons and that several options are under development."
Hagen confirmed that Kongsberg is evaluating "search and strike" solutions in the anti-drone industry and that "there are several promising solutions for the NASAMS complex." Other embedded options could potentially be anti-drone systems, including, for example, Blighter, Drone Defender, Drone Ranger, and Skywall 100.
Promising developments
Kongsberg is evaluating other missiles for the NASAMS complex, including missiles with a longer range and height, previously designated Modular Air Defense Missile (MADM). Hagen did not comment on these developments. However, the NASAMS interceptor suite is likely to include the AIM-120 AMRAAM missile as an all-weather jet-powered threat interceptor; an AMRAAM-ER missile to intercept missiles with the same range and height as the I-HAWK missile; an AIM-9X IR-guided missile to intercept threats with a jet engine at shorter ranges; and possibly a missile to intercept short-range ballistic missiles.
While the initial plan of action for NASAMS focused on air defense and the integration of various sensors and interceptors of air objects, the open architecture of the FDC also allowed the use of other types of actuators. For example, Poland acquired the Kongsberg Naval Strike Missile (NSM) complex for coastal defense and can use its NASAMS FDC architecture as a command, control and communications system to combat surface targets at sea and, if necessary, potentially on land. “This is part of the evolution of NASAMS; the point here is that the FDC is much more than a fire control system for an air defense complex - it is a kind of network node, - said Hagen. “Thanks to the open architecture, we can have various types of actuators. If you have a NASAMS network and a NASAMS FDC, then you can launch various rockets with the NASAMS system; in fact, we can launch any rocket. And NSM is part of this "any-actuator" family."
Further development of the system was presented at the AUSA 2017 exhibition in Washington, where Kongsberg showed an image of the NASAMS complex on a cargo chassis with new capabilities for launching various missiles.
“Some of our customers are now saying they want to be able to launch different missiles,” Hagen said. - They think about it from a theoretical or practical point of view, but there is no theory of combat use and therefore these possibilities may be too premature. To this day, we have seen customers have a need for coastal defense or air defense or traditional field artillery, but no customer has yet presented us with how they see all these operations being carried out with the use of a single command and control / fire control center. However, we are seeing the use of a single FDC in these different configurations and we have already integrated the software into the FDC to demonstrate this multifunctionality, we can do it if needed."
NASAMS is currently arguably the most successful ground-based complex in its class, which maximizes the potential for joint cooperation between Kongsberg (FDC, launchers for various missile tactical network) and Raytheon (radars, missiles, highly mobile launchers), allowing it constantly develop, adapting to the needs of customers, as well as confidently gain and maintain their positions in the global market.
A clear indication of this is the decision announced by the Australian government in April 2017 to purchase a NASAMS mobile complex in order to meet the needs of the Australian army in a ground air defense and missile defense system. As part of the Project Land 19 Phase 7B project, the existing RBS 70 MANPADS in the 16th Airborne Regiment will be replaced. The FDC will also replace the command and control points acquired in the previous Land 19 phase.
In September 2017, Raytheon Australia signed a risk mitigation contract to finalize the NASAMS facility. This work mainly focuses on integration with existing secure machines, sensors and communication systems.
It is clear that the army will use the existing arsenals of AIM-120 and AIM-9X missiles, which belong to the Australian Air Force, as executive elements. A potential launch platform could be a Raytheon HML mounted on a Bushmaster Protected Mobility Vehicle 4x4 along with a Sentinel AN / MPQ-64F1 radar and / or a Ground Based Multi-Mission Radar developed by CEA Technologies. The final decision on the NASAMS complex as part of Project Land 19 Phase 7B will be made in 2019.
