Japanese Maritime Self Defense Force warships will now operate with an increased ability to track and destroy enemy drones, helicopters, low-flying aircraft and even surface threats such as small boats or incoming enemy anti-ship missiles. .. due to the imminent arrival of Rolling AirFrame Missiles from the US.
The Rolling Airframe Missile (RAM) has for years been an integral part of the US Navy’s layered ship defense systems, so it would make sense that Japan might want to acquire the weapon for its fleet of warships and “mini-carriers” under development. Japan will acquire the RAM missiles in a $360 million deal, an acquisition which comprises one part of a long-standing, large-scale US-Japan weapons development collaboration. Japan is not only an Aegis Combat System partner but also co-develops a number of critical weapons systems with the US to include the SM-3 Block IIA interceptor and the Evolved Sea Sparrow Missile Block II.
RAM & SeaRAM Protect Warships
Japan operates its own version of the US Navy SeaRAM weapons system as well, an integrated suite of technologies which connect radar, fire control and a launcher to fire the RAM. The SeaRAM missile system can replace the CIWS (Close-in-Weapons System) area weapon with the Rolling Airframe Missile which fires from an 11-missile battery. The CIWS weapon, which has in recent years been upgraded by the Navy to incorporate surface as well as incoming air threats with the 1B variant, shoots out 4,500 rounds per minute with a phalanx gun firing mini-projectiles.
The idea with the US Navy’s SeaRAM is to supplement and build upon the defensive power of the CIWS, an area weapon which fires multiple projectiles from a Phalanx gun system to destroy approaching air and surface threats; SeaRAM increases the envelope of attacking threats a ship can defend against and hits targets at farther ranges than CIWS. Raytheon weapons developers explain that the SeaRAM massively expands the defensive envelope of the ship, enabling a longer-range Rolling Airframe Missile beyond the capacities of a CIWS gun to track and destroy multiple targets simultaneously.
“The SeaRAM CIWS is a complete combat weapon system that automatically detects, evaluates, tracks, engages, and performs kill assessment against ASM and high speed aircraft threats in an extended self-defense battle space envelope around the ship,” a US Navy essay on SeaRAM explains.