Rafael told Naval News it has developed the C-GEM active decoy to cope with saturation anti-ship missile attacks which require an effective multi-layer defense approach and remain the main threat for surface combatants. This threat was especially apparent in April 2022 when the Russian Black Sea fleet flagship Cruiser Moskva was sunk by Ukrainian anti-ship missile attack, which resulted in significant degradation of Russian navy capabilities and stance in the Black Sea.
“This sort of incident, amongst others seems to have prompted Navies to prioritize bolstering their defenses, and RAFAEL‘s C-GEM active decoy emerges as the best soft-kill solution to complement hard-kill (interceptors) and provide a robust defense capability”
Rafael Advanced Defense Systems representative at DSEI Japan 2023
Asked whether the JMSDF currently has a program to procure new decoy systems for its surface vessels, the Rafael representative said he can not comment on specific customers procurement programs. He added:“We can note, however, from our discussions with many navies worldwide that they are evaluating their soft-kill capabilities and we understand that many find their current soft-kill capabilities unsuitable and sometimes even entirely incapable in dealing with modern threats. Therefore multiple navies have recently kicked off programs to procure new decoys and/or decoy systems as part of building of new vessels or necessary upgrades to existing fleets.”
C-GEM is a totally new generation of decoy, which makes it difficult to compare it to chaff. With modern missile seekers employing spectral evaluation algorithms during engagement, chaff is either ignored or disqualified as a decoy and therefore in many cases is irrelevant as a soft-kill layer. To replace chaff, Rafael has introduced more than a decade ago the WIZARD Corner Reflector which is effective and essential in replacing chaff as a legitimate decoy target. The C-GEM active decoy, as opposed to passive decoys, does not only act as a legitimate target, but also creates generic seduction jamming, luring the missile away from the protected vessel even after it’s seeker is locked on the ship, thus adding a vital boost to the vessel survival chances even in the most complex attack scenarios.
According to Rafael, WIZARD is a fourth-generation integrated decoy system designed to defeat modern threats that make use of chaff discrimination algorithms. WIZARD can function as either a distraction at medium-range or as seduction defense at short-range. Additionally, Wizard can be loaded and operated by a single sailor.
C-GEM and WIZARD are already integrated with both fixed and trainable launchers and can be provided with a complete decoy launching system if required. “In some cases however, the navy already uses a decoy launching system, and therefore we designed the C-GEM to fit the standard 130mm SRBOC launchers used in many navies worldwide and most 3rd party fixed and trainable decoy launching systems.”
