Another evaluation successfully followed, and the weapon system was approved for production in 1978. The model exceeded operational maintenance, reliability, and availability specifications. Subsequently, the Phalanx Operational Suitability Model successfully completed its Operational Test and Evaluation (OT&E) on board the destroyer USS Bigelow in 1977. Navy for evaluation on the destroyer leader USS King in 1973 and it was determined that further work was required to improve performance and reliability. The first prototype system was offered to the U.S. The Phalanx Close-In Weapons System (CIWS) was developed as the last line of automated weapons defense (terminal defense or point defense) against all incoming threats, including antiship missiles (AShMs or ASMs), aircraft including high-g and maneuvering sea-skimmers, and small boats. Navy also fields the SeaRAM system, which pairs the RIM-116 Rolling Airframe Missile with sensors based on the Phalanx.īecause of their distinctive barrel-shaped radome and their automated nature of operation, Phalanx CIWS units are sometimes nicknamed " R2-D2" after the droid from the Star Wars films. It was deployed to counter rocket, artillery and mortar attacks during the 2021 US withdrawal from Afghanistan. Other users include the British Royal Navy, the Royal Australian Navy, the Royal New Zealand Navy, the Royal Canadian Navy and the US Coast Guard.Ī land variant, the LPWS (Land Phalanx Weapon System), part of the C-RAM system, was developed. The US Navy deploys it on every class of surface combat ship, except the Zumwalt-class destroyer and San Antonio-class amphibious transport dock. Consisting of a radar-guided 20 mm (0.8 in) Vulcan cannon mounted on a swiveling base, the Phalanx has been used by the United States Navy and the naval forces of 15 other countries. It was designed and manufactured by the General Dynamics Corporation, Pomona Division, later a part of Raytheon. The Phalanx CIWS (often spoken as "sea-wiz") is a gun-based close-in weapon system to defend military watercraft automatically against incoming threats such as aircraft, missiles, and small boats. On the unit in the background, the search radar can be seen at the top left with the vertical, orange-peel shaped, tracking radar below it. A technician checks the radar transmitter and microwave assemblies of a Phalanx CIWS, most likely a Block 0. Rounds from a Mk-15 Phalanx CIWS from the guided missile destroyer USS Mitscher hit ex-USNS Saturn during a sinking exercise (SINKEX), 2010. The Phalanx prototype on USS King in 1973. The Phalanx CIWS Block 1B mounted on the Oliver Hazard Perry-class frigate USS Elrod, in mothballs at the Philadelphia Navy Yard.
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