RIM-116 and Phalanx

RIM-116 AND PHALANX Autonomous close-in air defence Two weapon stations that engage what infantry cannot: incoming mortar rounds and rockets, drones, helicopters and low-flying aircraft. They search, track and fire on their own - nobody has to man them. THE TWO SYSTEMS RIM-116 RAM - guided missiles, 21 cells. Slower to arrive, but it follows its target. Phalanx CIWS - 20 mm gatling, 3600 rounds. No guidance, but its rounds are there in a fraction of the time. Both engage ordnance out to 2000 m and aircraft out to 3500 m. Placement matters: inside 1000 m the missile arrives too late and wastes cells, while the gun still hits. THEY WORK AS A NETWORK Up to eight stations within 800 m coordinate automatically. They split targets instead of all firing at the same one, take turns, and cover for a miss without waiting their slot. A radar extends the whole group: every station within 5000 m gains range and accuracy. Lose it and the group falls back to what each station sees for itself. Place it where it is hard to reach. BUILDING AND OPERATING Built at any command tent, US and USSR, for supplies. Reloading costs supplies per missile or per hundred rounds. At the control box: switch the station on or off, choose whether it engages aircraft, incoming ordnance or both, check ammunition and condition, load missiles by hand. A status lamp on the supply container answers from fifty metres what otherwise costs a walk: green ready, yellow supply running low, red an assembly needs repair, dark switched off. A station under threat sounds an alarm, so the position knows something is inbound before the first round lands. A switched-off station stays silent. DAMAGE AND REPAIR Every station is built from four assemblies, and a hit damages the part it strikes: - Launcher / gun - the station still tracks, but no longer fires - Elevation gear - the weapon stops tilting and misses high targets - Traverse drive - the mount stops turning, covering one bearing only - Base structu...