Diehl Defense at Eurosatory 2012 (Part 3)
…continued from part two.
Diehl Defense will be bringing a portfolio of its products, including ammunition, missiles, an air defense system, and a new non-lethal technology to the 2012 Eurosatory exhibition in Paris this June.
We previously looked at Diehl’s impressive array of missiles. However, the company does much more than just missiles, and here we’ll look at both an air defense system that incorporates one of its missile products and some of the company’s protective systems.
Based on the highly capable IRIS-T SLM, a medium-range version of the IRIS-T SLS missile, Diehl’s air defense system incorporates a vertical launch system and a Saab Giraffe multi-function radar and launch control system. It is intended to be operational by 2014. The system can be emplaced in a fixed installation for point defense of key installations or used in a mobile configuration on either wheeled or tracked vehicles. The system is designed to be capable against aircraft (including helicopters and unmanned aerial vehicles) but also cruise and other non-ballistic missiles and rockets.
The first Diehl protective system, developed in conjunction with Thales, Cassidian, and Sagem, is the Direct Infrared Countermeasure (DIRCM), a laser-based defense against infrared-seeking missiles. The system is intended primarily to defend against the use of man-portable air defense system (MANPADS) attacks during takeoff and landing. Two to three DIRCMs can protect all of the airspace around an aircraft.
In the ground arena, Diehl offers its Active Vehicle Protection System (AvePS). The AvePS combines radar and infrared sensors with a fire control computer and a fragment-free projectile. The system can detect, track, and engage rocket-propelled grenades and antitank missiles, and even has limited capability to reduce the effectiveness of kinetic energy penetrators fired from tank main guns. Live-fire tests were conducted in 2006 and 2011 against AvePS installations on Leopard 2, M113, and FUCHS platforms.
Finally, the system that will be featured at Eurosatory is the High-Power-Electromagnetics (HPEM) system. HPEM has a dual capability: it can disable improved explosive devices (IEDs), but it can also stop vehicles. The system uses electromagnetic energy to overload and destroy radio-based fuse systems, which makes it effective against IED types that use sensors and so are not affected by conventional jammers.
This capability against electrical components means that HPEM can also be used to stop vehicles, whether suspect vehicles that are fleeing or potential vehicle threats that are approaching. In either fixed or mobile installations, it can be used in this way to protect convoys or entry control points. What makes HPEM particularly valuable is that it does not affect human beings.
A third application of HPEM of particular value to law enforcement agencies is the ability to shut down communication and reconnaissance systems (such as cameras) in a building entry or hostage rescue situation.
Diehl has not yet announced its booth location for the Eurosatory show.
