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Lockheed-Martin tests anti boat-swarm system Lockheed Martin has completed at-sea operational testing of its Fast Inshore Attack Craft (FIAC) Defense System, which it says enables commanders to extend the defensive perimeter of most naval vessels out to five miles. The company developed the technology system with the support of the U.S. Navy. The system integrates existing sensors, weapons and decision support systems with newly developed command and control (C2) elements to allow host ships to detect, identify, verify hostility and target small boat threats beyond visual range, and then to engage hostile craft with Hellfire missiles as they penetrate the system’s five-mile defensive perimeter. The system fuses onboard radar and optical sensors, as well as potentially off-board sensors aboard Unmanned Aerial Systems (UASs), to provide persistent and predictive situational awareness. The system uses the host ship’s radar for initial detection and the UAS’s advanced optical sensors to confirm target identification, capability and intent. Once a potential threat is identified as hostile, the target is then laser-illuminated and engaged with Hellfire missiles from either a deck-mounted launcher, the UAS or from a Hellfire-capable helicopter. The UAS’s optical sensors can then be used to confirm the successful engagement and provide a visual battle damage assessment. During the recent testing the system was installed in standard U.S. Navy mission modules aboard Lockheed Martin’s Sea SLICE research vessel. It proved able to detect and identify multiple potential threats at greater distances than existing systems can handle. The next phase of testing will include at-sea operations on a U.S. Navy test range with live lasing and surface-to-surface firings of Hellfire missiles against multiple FIAC threat scenarios.
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