Australian Navy getting anti-ship missile test capability

EDINBURGH PARKS, Australia, Sept. 8 (UPI) -- The Royal Australian Navy is to receive an improved anti-ship missile test capability from BAE Systems Australia.

The BAE System, procured through a contract worth more than $25.5 million, is the Future Advanced Threat Simulator, or FATS system, an airborne radar that closely emulates the in-flight behavior of a range of anti-ship missiles.

BAE Systems Australia will design, develop, manufacture, test and deliver the FATS capability suite. Work on the project will start this month.

"At the heart of this impressive technology is local innovation; the simulator is an advanced capability, developed by our specialist engineering team here in South Australia," said BAE Systems Australia Chief Executive Officer Glynn Phillips.

"It underscores to our Defense customer that we have an airborne test and evaluation capability unmatched within Australia."

BAE Systems Australia said that in its flight mode, the FATS is configured in an underwing pod and flown against the target ship at low altitude from a Defense contracted Learjet carriage aircraft. This enables the FATS to simulate the flight profile of a sea-skimming anti-ship missile while also closely emulating the behavior of the missile's seeker. The ship's crew and its self-defense systems are exercised as the ship performs actions aimed at defeating the incoming missile.

The FATS is a third generation technology that leverages BAE Systems' existing capabilities from the successful Generic Threat Simulator and Airborne Millimeter-wave Stimulator product lines.