Saturday, June 16, 2012

Kongsberg and Raytheon demonstrate Hawk XXI capabilities

NASAMS launcher

Kongsberg and Raytheon have successfully demonstrated the airborne target engagement capabilities of their Hawk XXI air defence system during a live-fire demonstration at the Andoya Rocket Range in Andøya, Norway.

During the demonstration, conducted late last month, the Hawk XXI air defence system engaged an air target by using a Raytheon-developed ground-launched Evolved SeaSparrow Missile (ESSM).

Kongsberg Defence Systems executive vice president, Eirik Lie, said the live-fire demonstration was conducted as part of the team's ongoing enhancements of its air defence systems to meet ever-evolving threats.

"The ESSM ground launch confirms our ambition of expanding our system capabilities, showing current Hawk customers a path to upgrade their systems," said Lie.

The tests also highlighted proven capabilities of the Kongsberg fire distribution center (FDC), national advanced surface-to-air missile system (NASAMS) canister launcher, ThalesRaytheon Systems' AN/MPQ-64F1 sentinel radar for target tracking and Raytheon's hawk high power illuminator (HPI) as the semi-active missile guidance source.

Integration of already-deployed NASAMS launcher into Hawk XXI system provided an opportunity to use other missiles, including the AIM-120 advanced medium-range air-to-air missile (AMRAAM).

The ESSM ground-launched missile will enhance the Hawk's capability, and provide operators with an in-production replacement missile.

The US Security Assistance Management Directorate (SAMD) and the Royal Norwegian Air Force (RnoAF) also supported the tests by supplying tactical hardware.

An advanced variant of the combat-proven Hawk air and missile defence system, Hawk XXI is designed to engage and destroy fixed-wing aircraft, helicopters, unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) and cruise missiles.

The system is also capable of providing anti-tactical ballistic missile (ATBM) capability against short-range ballistic missiles, and is currently used by 17 countries worldwide

Source : http://www.airforce-technology.com

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