Contract news in this week includes the upgrade and refurbishment of a number of Phalanx Close in Weapon Systems.
The £16.8m 2 year contract with Devonport Royal Dockyard includes;
The Authority has a requirement to buy four (4) sets of Equipment to upgrade the Phalanx CIWS in service with the Royal Navy. In addition, two Land-based Phalanx Weapons Systems (LPWS) are to be overhauled and restored to condition suitable for Royal Navy service. This work will utilise two sets of the above-mentioned equipment for upgrade of Phalanx.
Presumably ‘land based Phalanx systems’ being the counter mortar units used at Basra – apparently then we don’t need that capability any more.
We haven’t had that capability for some years, since it was fitted to RFAs Cardigan Bay and Lyme Bay.
Nice.
Now upgrade Harpoon.
Agree Mike, would be nice to see a T45 with more teeth.
@Anixtu
Presumably the article refers to two additional (to the ones previously reverted for naval use and put on the RFAs). It also doesn’t exclude the possibility that there may be more. I’ve never seen an actual number purchased, but it can’t have been very many.
Chris,
4 ex-Basra CRAM units were fitted to Cardigan and Lyme with minimal modification from their former land-based role. They were/are still referred to as “Marinised Land-Based Phalanx Weapon System” (MLPWS). I think it likely that 4 units is the total number converted for CRAM and deployed to Basra as I understand they were originally sourced from RFAs Fort Victoria and Fort George. Lyme Bay has had her MLPWS replaced with a properly integrated Phalanx 1A fit. The two LPWS units referred to in the OP are almost certainly the two MLPWS from Cardigan Bay.