Terma for Thai LPD

Richard Scott

Wednesday, 9 September, 2009

Danish aerospace and electronics group Terma (Stand 1675) has been contracted to provide the combat system for a new landing platform dock (LPD) vessel being built by Singapore Technologies Marine for the Royal Thai Navy (RTN).

Its scope of supply includes a core combat management system (CMS), plus associated surveillance and fire control modules, drawn from the company’s C-Flex, C-Search and C-Fire product lines. The combat system provides excellent surveillance and identification (both air and surface) as well as control of the guns on the ship for self-protection, and the combat management system ties the system together in a fully integrated solution.

The C-Flex CMS will provide the RTN with full command and control capability, providing functionality for situational awareness, sensor management and threat evaluation. The fit specified for the LPD will comprise three multifunction consoles.

C-Search is a radar and sensor suite consisting of Terma’s Scanter 4100 air/surface surveillance radar, combined with an IFF system to provide identification to the air tracks of the radar.

C-Fire will provide integrated fire control for the single 76mm gun and two 30mm guns. Using an above-decks electro-optical director (hosting a thermal imager, TV camera, and eye-safe laser rangefinder), C-Fire is controlled from the C-Flex multifunction consoles, the director being trained to a track from the situation display, or manually laid on by a joystick in the console.

The electro-optical director can be used for surveillance and identification of air and surface contacts or, in the event of an emergent threat, switch to engagement mode.

In this case the system can engage both air and surface targets, using the Scanter 4100 radar for tracking the surface target and the electro-optical director for tracking the air target.

According to Terma, the C-Flex consoles (pictured) are identical and provide full redundancy for operation of the system, including any of the three guns. This means that if one of the consoles should break down, the operator can move to another console and continue working. Ordered from ST Marine in late 2008, the new 141m LPD will provide the RTN with the capability of performing a range of roles in support of both military and civil relief missions. Delivery is planned for mid-2012.