The key requirement for a submarine is to see and not be seen. In this context, any system breaching the water surface must have as little a Radar Cross Section (RCS) as possible, and communications are very restricted. A partnership between IAI and Hensoldt has sought to address this conundrum with the Integrated Communications and Surveillance (ICS) system for submarines.
“One of the key requirements we often hear from navies is the possibility of integrating communications on systems as small as periscopes and optronic masts,” Michael Sela, Business Development and Marketing Manager at IAI, told Naval News. Yet these systems’ dimensions, typically between 19cm and 30cm diameter, present a significant challenge for such integration.
“Partnering up with Hensoldt, IAI has been able to address this challenge, integrating a number of systems and sensors in both the OSM 150 and the OSM 200” Sela said.
Michael Sela, Business Development and Marketing Manager at IAI
In the most compact mast, the OSM 200, IAI has successfully integrated a Radar Warner Receiver (RWR), a GPS, and AESA SATCOM system and a Virtual Probe Antenna (VPA) – a smart, active communication antenna covering all VHF, UHF and HF frequencies, including AIS signals. “This means that with a system as compact as the OSM 200, navies can now receive information from the entire fleet, command, task force, etc, but can also communicate through the ultra secure SATCOM system,” according to Sela.
On the OSM 150, a larger system compared to the compact 200, IAI and Hensoldt also integrated an R-ESM and laser communications for direction finding. The R-ESM is an advanced, 360 frequency coverage system for interception, analysis, and location of radars, including Low Probability of Intercept (LPI) emitters, in dense electromagnetic environments.
The operational implications of this successful integration are critical. “Where before a submarine would have to hoist different masts according to the capabilities required, now all the operator has to do is hoist the one OM with all the systems and sensors included,” Sela commented. For example, currently when a submarine is escorting another ship or a special forces mission, if it wishes to communicate it has to move away from the area of operations to be able to come closer to the surface and hoist antennas. “With the new ICS, the submarine can communicate with a much lower RCS, and therefore no longer needs to leave the area and get detached from the task force,” Sela concluded.
The ICS is production ready and can be retrofitted in all existing and future Hensoldt OMS 150 and 200 masts.