by Kris Osborn, President, Center for Military Modernization
An electromagnetic “screen” or “shield” has been engineered to block, confuse, jam or simply disable guidance systems built into missiles and laser-guided munitions designed to attack ships at sea.
In use already by more than 15-countries, Rheinmetall defence’s Multi-Ammunition Soft Kill System (MASS) currently protects warships operating for Germany, Peru, Sweden, Finland, Norway and New Zealand from a wide range of kinetic and non-kinetic attacks through an ammunition-based “soft-kill” technology.
MASS will now protect Royal Australian Navy warships, according to an essay published by Rheinmetall Defence Australia.
“Programmable and multispectral, the system’s (MASS) innovative ammunition provides protection in all relevant wavelengths of the electromagnetic spectrum. With its movable launcher system and the programmable ammunition, MASS deploys spontaneous screening which covers vessels completely,” a Rheinmetall essay explains.
In an operational sense, the weapon seems to operate and look like a smoke screen or wide “blanket” of non-kinetic, EW-driven protections against a wide range of guidance systems. While many specifics related to the system are not likely to be available for security reasons, it seems feasible that the MASS ammunition disperses a range of smoke-like material and electromagnetic signals to confuse, jam or “derail” incoming enemy weapons. Many missiles and anti-ship weapons rely upon RF guidance systems or laser spotting, both things which an electromagnetic “cloud” of sorts might be well positioned to “jam.” Once an approaching weapon loses its guidance system and precision, it is not likely to continue onto its target.
While in existence for more than a decade, MASS appears to have been massively upgraded to an improved MASS_ISS variant which will protect Royal Australian Navy ships.
“The fully computerized and trainable countermeasure system MASS provides a unique level of protection against modern sensor- and LASER-guided missiles. MASS can be installed on ships of all types and can be integrated into existing command systems. The new MASS_ISS features built-in sensors for detecting radar and laser threats,” an essay in Army Recognition states.
MASS consists of up to six trainable launchers, each of which can fire up to 32 of what are called “Omni Trap decoy munitions” according to an interesting technical article in the Journal of Electromagnetic Dominance
“Omni-Trap contains a mix of payloads in the radio frequency (RF), infrared (IR), laser, electro-optical and ultraviolet portions of the electromagnetic spectrum: it is understood that the RAN (Royal Australian Navy) will procure the latest rocket-powered extended range Omni-Trap ER Mk 2 version which increases range out to 400 meters,” the JED essay states.
Rheinmetall data specifies that the MASS system can conduct operations in all relevant wavelengths of the electromagnetic spectrum, and either stand alone as its own defensive system or integrate more broadly into a ship command and control system.
An ability to integrate into a ship’s command and control system would seem quite significant, as it could enable multi-national ship-to-ship targeting, data sharing and operational employment. It is not clear how “networked” the MASS systems would be with warships from other countries, yet available technical information states it can integrate with ship-based command and control. Australia’s acquisition could therefore support joint ship-protection operations between the Royal Australian Navy and existing MASS customer New Zealand, as they are in close proximity to one another.
MASS now protects Germany’s Brandenburg-class Frigates as well as Braunschweig-class Corvettes and Frankenthal-class Minehunters. Supporting mine-hunting ships would seem significant as MASS is likely to support littoral operations and be in position to “jam” or stop shore-fired anti-ship weapons targeting countermine vessels closer to shore.
An essay from Rheinmetall Defence Australia says their production experts are seeking Australian-based specialized suppliers with expertise in electronics; electrics and artillery for strategic partnerships to produce components for MASS.
The US Navy is not listed as a customer, a fact which may be due to the Navy successful maturation of a wide range of advanced layered ship-defenses to include the advanced SEWIP (Surface Electronic Warfare Improvement Program) Block 3 electronic warfare jammer.
Kris Osborn is the President of Warrior Maven – Center for Military Modernization and Osborn previously served at the Pentagon as a Highly Qualified Expert with the Office of the Assistant Secretary of the Army—Acquisition, Logistics & Technology. Osborn has also worked as an anchor and on-air military specialist at national TV networks. He has appeared as a guest military expert on Fox News, MSNBC, The Military Channel, and The History Channel. He also has a Masters Degree in Comparative Literature from Columbia University.
