Trials were performed at a UK trials site in conjunction with 130 mm rounds supplied by decoy manufacturer Chemring Countermeasures. According to Safran, the successful integration means it is now able to offer navies the option to deploy a range of 130 mm decoy cartridges from NGDS for both anti-ship missile defence and anti-torpedo defence.
Already in service with the French Navy and a number of international naval forces, NGDS uses a stabilised two-axis launcher that is able to train very rapidly in both azimuth and elevation in order to deploy the decoy payload with a high degree of accuracy in time and space. The baseline 12-round launcher developed for the French Navy is compatible with Lacroix Defense 150 mm calibre SEALEM and SEALIR decoy rockets respectively deploying advanced radio frequency (RF) and infrared (IR) payloads.
Having secured a number of exports for NGDS variants using Lacroix decoy munitions,
Safran in 2022 revealed that it was developing a modified ‘Configuration D’ variant of NGDS
that would be compatible with the 130mm countermeasures cartridges already in service
with a large number of NATO and allied navies. These include RF chaff seduction and
distraction rounds, IR decoys, corner reflectors, active offboard decoys, and acoustic
countermeasures. While retaining the same common traversing/elevating mount as earlier
NGDS variants, Configuration D is fitted with a new 12-barrel assembly that can
accommodate both mortar-launched and rocket-fired 130 mm countermeasure rounds.
Trials to prove the integration were performed at the Cranfield Ordnance Test and
Evaluation Centre in the UK using standard 130 mm rounds from Chemring
Countermeasures. Safran said that the trials showed that it could now offer navies a range of
130 mm decoy options with no compatibility issues, adding that the system “is now in
production and ready to address market requirements”.
The NGDS Configuration D decoy launcher had previously been bid by Safran for the UK’s
Electronic Warfare Counter Measures Increment 1a programme (part of the Royal Navy’s
wider Maritime Electronic Warfare Programme). Although not successful in that competition,
the company believes there are a number of other opportunities emerging for a trainable
launcher system able to fire NATO 130 mm decoy rounds, including in Japan, as reported by Naval News during DSEI Japan 2023.
Xavier Vavasseur contributed to this story.
