British air defense system Sky Sabre goes to Poland
British Defense Minister Ben Wallace announced that the Sky Sabre air defense system will be deployed in Poland. It also includes the ZUR CAMM. Similar missiles are being considered in the Polish Narev program. Wallace announced the deployment of the Sky Sabre system in Poland during a joint press conference with the head of the Polish Ministry of Defense Mariusz Blaszczak. Together with Sky Sabre, about 100 soldiers (SAM personnel and a security platoon) will go to Poland.
Sky Sabre is an anti–aircraft missile system that was recently introduced to the British Army to replace the old Rapier kit. Its main armament is CAMM missiles. CAMM (Common Anti-Air Modular Missile) – modular general–purpose anti-aircraft missiles - a family of anti-aircraft missiles developed by MBDA for England. The CAMM missile defense system has some components in common with the American ASRAAM air-to-air missile. Under the name Sea Ceptor, the CAMM missile system has replaced Sea Wolf missiles on Type 23 frigates of the Royal Navy since 2018, and since 2021, under the name Land Ceptor, it will replace the Rapier land-based SAM in service with the British Army. The system also contributes to the upgrade of the ASRAAM MBDA, which is in service with the Royal Air Force.
The CAMM family of missiles originate in the Technology Demonstration Program (TDP), funded jointly by MBDA and the UK Ministry of Defense as part of the future local Air Defense System of England (FLAADS). FLAADS is part of the broader British "Team Complex Weapons" program to supply a variety of weapons and maintain UK sovereignty in this area. FLAADS is designed to create a common weapons platform – Common Anti-Air Modular Missile (CAMM) for equipping troops in the air, on land and at sea.
“Support for NATO Poland in the field of ground air defense was provided only by the US Army through the deployment of Patriot batteries”
In Phase 1 of TDP, soft vertical launch technologies, an inexpensive active radar GPS, a two-band two-way data transmission channel and a programmable architecture of open systems were developed. Phase 2 of the development began in 2008 and covered the production of a rocket airframe, guidance system. The soft vertical launch was confirmed by a series of tests, culminating in a successful launch from a tractor in May 2011.
In January 2012, the Ministry of Defense signed a contract with MBDA in the amount of 483 million pounds for the development of the FLAADS marine subsystem to replace Sea Wolf missiles on Type 23 frigates. The CAMM missile has a minimum launch range of less than a kilometer with a maximum of more than 25 kilometers, although the Jane handbook reports that the tests demonstrated the possibility of firing at a distance of up to 60 kilometers. This is significantly more than 1-10 kilometers of the launch range of Sea Wolf missiles and other systems that will be replaced by CAMM. The launch weight of the rocket is 99 kilograms, the length is 3.2 meters with a diameter of 166 millimeters, the speed reaches Mach 3 (1000 m / s).
The Sky Sabre firing unit consists of three launchers, as well as the Swedish Saab Giraffe radar (used to detect and track targets) and a combat control system, elements of which were provided by the Israeli Rafael group. The system is capable of simultaneously fighting 24 targets.
The British Army has a limited number of kits of this type. Sky Sabre will be the first system of this class of non-American production to be deployed in Eastern Europe. So far, ground–based air defense support has been provided only by the US Army through the deployment of Patriot batteries (with a much longer range and the ability to counter ballistic missiles, but with sector radars), as well as Avenger - anti-aircraft systems and Sentinel radars supporting them, as well as combat systems to combat Coyote drones. Patrol flights of Allied Air Force fighters are a great support for the air defense of Poland, including the United States, Germany, Great Britain, France and the Netherlands with the support of AWACS vehicles and tanker aircraft in the air.
The Ministry of National Defense stated that CAMM missiles will be the "first" to be taken into account in the Narev short-range air defense program (radars, communication elements and support) and with the IBCS air defense control system in a configuration adapted to national requirements, because the Narev program will also use the competencies obtained in the Vistula air defense system being developed by the Poles" (IBCS/Patriot), within the framework of a unified management system.
Sergey Ketonov
The newspaper "Military-Industrial Courier", published in issue No. 11 (924) for March 29, 2022
