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The CAMM (Common Anti-Air Modular Missile) series is a family of surface-to-air and air-to-air missiles developed by MBDA for the United Kingdom. MBDA has developing a common missile that will meet the future anti-air target requirements of Navies, Armies and Air Forces. Given that the target set, ranging from fast jets and helicopters to cruise missiles and UAVs, is similar across the sea, land and air domains, a weapon solution maximizing modularity and commonality has obvious cost and logistics benefits. The CAMM will provide future land forces with an easily transportable and rapidly deployable local area air defence capability, which can operate as a stand-alone unit or be integrated within a future battle-space network. If 3rd party targeting information is available via the battle-space network then CAMM is capable of engaging Non Line of Sight (NLOS) targets. This NLOS feature is particularly attractive for engaging concealed Attack Helicopters and low-flying terrain-following cruise missiles. The CAMM Land variant was ordered by United Kingdom to replace the Rapier. The Soft Vertical Launch was proven over a series of trials, culminating in a successful truck launch in May 2011. In May 2014, the British MOD has ordered the Land variant of the Future Local Area Air Defence System (FLAADS Land), the CAMM. FLAADS is part of a wider UK 'Complex Weapons' programme to deliver a variety of UK industry based weapons. FLAADS is intended to deliver a common weapons platform (the Common Anti-Air Modular Missile (CAMM)) to equip forces in the air, land a maritime environments.
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Variants
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- CAMM Sea Ceptor: As part of the Sea Ceptor weapon system, CAMM provides a 360° air defence capability for naval forces out to ranges greater than 25km against the current and future air threat. Requiring no dedicated tracker/illuminator radars, CAMM can be cued by the ship’s own standard surveillance radar to provide high levels of protection against multiple simultaneous targets in open ocean and littoral environments. It can also be used against surface targets. CAMM launch canisters are compatible with SYLVER and Mk41 family launch silos with CAMM utilising features such as folding missile fins to maximise launch canister packing density. The introduction of “soft launch” techniques reduces system mass and allows for more flexibility in terms of installation positions on a ship.
- CAMM Air Operations: The same CAMM missile design for Navies and Armies is easily adaptable by MBDA for Air Force use on Fast Jets. With MBDA's experience from ASRAAM and Meteor ensuring world class performance will be achieved. MBDA has been working with the MoD on assessing how CAMM technology could be used to sustain or enhance the Royal Air Force's ASRAAM capability in the future.
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Technical Data
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Launcher unit
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The launch unit is mounted on a MAN SV HX60 4x4 truck, mounting a crane for self-reloading, and 12 launch tubes for CAMM missiles mounted at the rear of the chassis. In road condition, the missiles are lowered to the rear part of the truck chassis. In firing position, two groups of six all-weather canister missile launchers are erected to the rear of the crew cabin.
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Missile
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The CAMM missile has a minimum operational range of less than 1 km and a maximum range greater than 25 km. It has a weight of 99 kilograms, a length of 3.2 meters, a diameter of 166 millimeters and reaches a supersonic speed of Mach 3 (or 1,020 meters per second). In flight, the missile can receive mid-course guidance via a data link before the active homing radar seeker takes over for the final approach to target. The missile is based on the ASRAAM infra-red air-to-air missile, sharing some common features and components but with updated electronics and an active radar seeker. The CAMM is ejected "cold" from the canister by compressed air and a pistol, which fire the missile 100 ft into the air before its rocket ignites, making integration of the missile easy on all kind of launching platforms, very differently from missiles such as ASTER, MICA, ESSM and all others, which are launched "hot", requiring a far more complex canister and launcher vehicle, capable to handle the stress, flames, heat and exhaust of an hot launch.
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Radar and control components.
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Linking the missile system into the Royal Artillery’s evolving Land Environment Air Picture (LEAAP) system which uses the Falcon trunk network, Saab Giraffe radars and Link 11/16. This might also evolve is the Network Enabled Airspace Defence and Surveillance (NEADS) project ever gets off the ground and will provide a series if incremental improvements over LEAAP.
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Mobility
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The CAMM launch unit is mounted on a 4x4 military truck chassis MAN SV HX 60. The truck is motorized with a latest-generation MAN Common Rail small block diesel engine developing 326hp and 1,250Nm torque. The truck-mounted CAMM will have better battlefield mobility. The HX 60 is fitted with a 12-speed ZF AS-Tronic automatic constant mesh gearbox and MAN two-speed transfer box. It provides seating for driver and two passengers. Add-on armor kit can be fitted to the cab. There is an observation hatch on the roof which can be used to mount a light machine gun. The truck can run at a maximum road speed of 90 km/h with a maximum cruising range of 800 km. Without preparation the MAN HX60 fords water obstacles up to 1.2 m deep.
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Operations
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An interesting feature of the CAMM system in a land environment is that it does not require the radar system to be co-located, opening possibilities for concealing the launch point and attacking non line of sight targets.
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Specifications
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Type
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Medium-range surface-to-air missile defense system
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Country users
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United Kingdom
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Designer Country
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United Kingdom
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Type of engaged targets
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Helicopter, aircraft, UAVs, cruise missile
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Crew
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?
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Radar systems
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Blinfire and Giraffe.
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Missile
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Weight: 99 kg
Length: 3.2 m
Warhead type : Directed fragmentation
Flight speed: Mach 3
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Range
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1 - 25 km
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Guidance sysem
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Active homing radar seeker
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Dimensions truck
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Length: 7.6 m; Width: 2.55 m; Height: 2.89 m
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United Kingdom to order MBDA land version of FLAADS Future Local Area Air Defence System.
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A £36M contract from the UK Ministry of Defence (MOD) has been placed with MBDA for the Land variant of the Future Local Area Air Defence System (FLAADS Land). This will fund an Assessment Phase that will demonstrate the adaptation and evolution of core weapon system subsystems (e.g. command & control) for the land environment, and prepare for the transition from Rapier Field Standard C (FSC) in British Army service.
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The FLAADS Land system will provide the British Army with a world leading Ground Based Air Defence (GBAD) system that will be one of the most advanced and capable in its class, providing operational, logistical and cost benefits.
At the heart of the FLAADS Land system is MBDA’s Common Anti-air Modular Missile (CAMM) and its weapon command and control system, contracted for installation onto the Royal Navy’s (RN) Type 23 Frigates as Sea Ceptor. This approach leverages the existing investment to deliver the UK MOD with an affordable but highly capable air defence system for both the Army and Royal Navy, with a shared support and future upgrade path across both services.
The opportunity to exploit a CAMM-based air defence system on land and sea also provides potential international customers with the opportunity to share in the benefits that the UK is reaping from the multi-service adoption of the missile.
MBDA is delivering the FLAADS Land programme under the Portfolio Management Agreement (PMA). The PMA provides the UK Armed Forces with Freedom of Action and Operational Advantage thereby allowing them to maintain an edge over adversaries now and in the future. The PMA also ensures the skills and technologies critical for this are maintained in the UK.
Antoine Bouvier, Chief Executive Officer of MBDA, welcomed the news saying, “This new contract further demonstrates the value of the partnership strategy that MBDA is advancing with its domestic customers. By extending the FLAADS programme to land applications, the British MOD is showing that MBDA continues to be its Complex Weapons company of choice and recognises its ingenuity in maximizing cost benefits through modularity and the re-use of existing technologies. Made possible through the PMA framework established with the British MOD, CAMM-based missile systems offer advantages in terms of capability and through-life costs which I’m sure will interest many armies and navies around the world”.
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