Naval expertise from Rheinmetall – from sensors to effectors

Rheinmetall supplies a wide array of advanced systems for naval applications. Our range of naval products extends from sensors and command systems to air defence systems, naval weaponry and ammunition. Furthermore, the Rheinmetall supplies special systems for combating sea mines, force protection equipment and simulators for surface combatants and submarines.

In recent years naval threat scenarios have undergone a complete sea change. Planners and policymakers have long since shifted their focus away from battles between massed fleets of surface combatants; instead the emphasis is on counterterrorism, piracy suppression, peacekeeping and peace enforcement operations, where the threat is almost invariably asymmetric in nature. In such scenarios, attacks can occur anywhere in the world, at anytime and on a scale that is impossible to predict; on land and at sea alike, the range of potential civil and military targets is enormous. The classic example of a terrorist operation at sea is the lethal attack on the USS Cole in October 2000, carried out by two militants in a rubber dingy.

A direct outcome of these threats, the expanded mission spectrum of today’s armed forces calls for far-reaching changes in terms of tactics, organization and equipment. Known as Force Transformation, this process seeks to make the best possible use of the existing resources of all three services by systematically optimizing the “kill chain” of reconnaissance, C4I and fires, thus enabling faster, more accurate, more effective engagement of enemy targets. This is the essence of Network Centric Warfare (NCW).

Optimum exploitation of resources results in an expanded mission spectrum for all three components of the military, including naval forces, which, in addition to their traditional tasks, now need to be able to engage targets on shore, provide air defence cover, fight terrorists at sea and protect civilian shipping from pirates.