Quote:
|
Originally Posted by PubFather
I don't know a definitive answer - but if SeaRam simply replaces the Phalanx gun, surely it uses the same radar and therefore can track the same number of targets?? The other advantage of RAM is that it is fire-n-forget. The launching at different angles described earlier worries me - simply because I think it shows that the seeker head has a very limited engagement radius. Wouldnt it be an idea to eventually upgrade the seeker from a Stinger one to that of a Sidewinder X?
|
The RAM missile IS in fact a modified Sidewinder. That's what General Dynamics bragged about when they demonstrated the system to us. Don't know about the X designation, but almost ALL tracking AND targeting Radars of most missiles is only 30 degrees. That is why a 15 degree slope of a ship's bulkhead will DEflect a Radar beam back OVER the missile rather than REflect it back into the dish.
That's part of Stealth. Radar Absorbent Material (another RAM) is for vertical surfaces and inside corners.
Also, the 25 mm Chain gun takes about 4 to 6 men to operate and keep supplied with ammo. An M2 Browning takes only 2 men; one to shoot and one to open up ammo boxes and slip them into the cradle. For that matter, if all the ammo boxes are already on deck, it only takes one man to put out some very serious machine gun fire.