A consortium led by Germany’s Rheinmetall Defence plans to build a prototype version of a fully networked system for protecting Bundeswehr camps, semi-static bases and similar installations.
Germany’s Federal Agency for Defence Technology and Procurement (BWB) awarded the project-engineering contract to Rheinmetall, Thales Defence Deutschland and Diehl BGT Defence.
The consortium plans to demonstrate the prototype’s functions and efficiency at the Bundeswehr’s base in Meppen, Germany, as early as next year, the company said in a Nov. 4 release.
This system involves networking short- and long-range reconnaissance sensors with state-of-the-art command, control, communications, computers and intelligence (C4I) technology and high-performance effectors, including air defense assets.
When the project-engineering phase is complete, BWB plans to issue a Request for Proposals for protection systems.
The Bundeswehr intends to deploy the systems to protect its installations and assets in places like Afghanistan from terrorist and insurgent attack. Owing to their location and layout, installations such as forward operating bases (FOB) are favored targets.
Better protection for FOBs, airstrips, naval vessels, foreign port facilities and other stationary assets is a top priority.
The consortium has come up with a comprehensive protection concept that promises to provide an excellent defense against symmetric and asymmetric threats, the Rheinmetall statement said. The system’s designers have adopted a network-based approach, resulting in a highly effective sensor-to-shooter cycle that includes surveillance, command and control, and fires.
Consisting of legacy components as well as new subsystems that have recently come onto the market, the system is designed to operate 24 hours a day, with a built-in semiautomatic alarm function capable of activating the necessary defensive measure at any time.
In September 2005, before a military audience, Rheinmetall successfully staged a live demonstration of “Protective Shield,” the company’s initial concept for a comparable system for safeguarding forward operating bases, laying the groundwork for a successful project engineering phase.