Phalanx anti-missile gun

[Clitheroekid]

This is a remarkable video of firepower in action.

The US Navy has the same Phalanx systems on their surface ships.

Israeli's Phalanx Close-in air defence system — part of Israel's "Iron Dome" - is shown here successfully engaging incoming missiles.

In this video, there appear to be at least two high-speed guns out of view of the camera, maybe more.

The white can in the foreground appears to be for close in fire, in situations where the longer range guns can't do the job. All the firepower is radar/computer-controlled - there's no human intervention, except to turn the defence system on.

Turn your sound up and watch on full screen to see and hear cutting-edge technology destroy incoming missiles. It's very impressive!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IEdVhxG4HV8

[Itsallaguess]

It's very impressive!

It is - but unfortunately it's also footage from a video game CK...

Footage on social media purportedly showing Israel’s defence system shooting at helicopters and planes is from a video game.

A representative for Bohemia Interactive, the developer of the game in question, told Reuters the videos appear to show modified gameplays from a game called Arma 3.

VERDICT - False. The videos show clips from the video game Arma 3, not the Israeli defence system.

https://www.reuters.com/article/factcheck-israel-game-idUSL2N2ND2D3

Cheers,

Itsallaguess

[gryffron]

And of course, the problem with using such a gun defence system in peacetime is that all those bullets have to come down somewhere! Not much of an issue in mid-ocean, but pointing it in the vicinity of Gaza would be pretty disastrous. Also, the Grad rockets used by Hamas are ballistic and fly too high for gun defences. Hence why Iron Dome is a missile system.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Iron_Dome

There is a "Phalanx on land" system. Used by USA and Israel. Mainly to defend land forces against helicopters.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/M163_VADS

All the firepower is radar/computer-controlled - there's no human intervention

Oh, and one more clue it is fake. If the system is entirely automated, why are they firing tracer rounds?

Gryff

[Lootman]

And of course, the problem with using such a gun defence system in peacetime is that all those bullets have to come down somewhere! Not much of an issue in mid-ocean, but pointing it in the vicinity of Gaza would be pretty disastrous.

Except of course it would probably be Gaza where the missiles were launched from in the first place! So what else is Israel supposed to do?

[AsleepInYorkshire]

Hi CTK,

Here's a phalanx in action during the Iraqi conflict

Our Carrier Strike Groups have layered protection. The phalanx is the last but one in this line of protection for the capital ship. It's generally accepted there are weakness' with the CSG defence. Overwhelming missile attacks is one. There are three Phalanx systems on HMS Queen Elizabeth. In the event that a missile does get through the other layers the phalanx provides a final chance to destroy or disable the incoming missile. The design of HMS Queen Elizabeth also helps to reduce the impact of a missile strike. It's not an easy ship to sink or disable.

The ship is equipped with Lightning II VTOL aircraft. These can detect a missile launch upwards of 1,500 miles away. At the same time the aircraft knows so does the entire fleet. At that point the missile still has to overcome the layered defence system around the fleet.

AiY
The Lightning II is not the first layer of defence. Think satellite - or other recon units

[Clitheroekid]

It's very impressive!

It is - but unfortunately it's also footage from a video game CK...

Oops, sorry!

Now you mention it I did think that the explosions on the ground looked a bit odd, but the power of suggestion ...

If nothing else it's a vivid demonstration of how effective disinformation can be. It was sent to me in good faith by a friend in Silicon Valley who's the now retired CFO of a large US cyber security company. If he can fall for it then there's not much hope for the rest of us - and I can't wait to tell him!

[Spet0789]

Phalanx in the Falklands against 1960s aircraft dropping bombs would have been sensational. As China and Russia deploy hypersonic missiles, Phalanx is obsolete.

It engages at an effective range of around 1.5km. At Mach 5, that’s less than 1 second away. Even if Phalanx works perfectly, the ship with all its sensitive radars, weapons, embarked aircraft and people, gets a massive shotgun blast of missile fragments all travelling as fast as a rifle bullet.

That may not sink the ship but will take it out of action anyway.

All development in anti-missile defenses is now focussed on missiles, hypersonic projectiles or directed energy weapons which engage at 6km or more.

[Lootman]

Phalanx in the Falklands, against 1960s aircraft dropping bombs, would have been sensational. As China and Russia deploy hypersonic missiles, Phalanx is obsolete.

No doubt, but then if the US, Russia and China are at the point of destroying each other's military assets then we are already in WW3 and will have a lot more things to worry about.

Israel's adoption of this system seems much more typical, where they are faced with various enemies in the region who have large but less sophisticated military assets. If Israel can take out incoming missiles and planes, then it is less likely to use its nuclear capability to destroy major Middle Eastern population centres.

[Leothebear]

As they're now obsolete they must be coming down in price. (I'm thinking of getting one installed in my car).

[mc2fool]

If nothing else it's a vivid demonstration of how effective disinformation can be. It was sent to me in good faith by a friend in Silicon Valley who's the now retired CFO of a large US cyber security company. If he can fall for it then there's not much hope for the rest of us - and I can't wait to tell him!

Errr ... the video is titled (my underline):

"Arma3 defence shooting down missiles phalanx anti missile defense system game play"

and the description immediately below it is:

"phalanx gun in action used by the us military anti missile defense system arma3 game play looks just like the real thing!"

[anteos]

Isn't the phalanx system problematic to use and hasn't shot any aircraft down to date?

There was also an incident during the iraqi war when the phalanx system locked onto the chaff system of a nearby battleship. Instead of hitting the missile it straffed the battleship?

[AsleepInYorkshire]

Phalanx in the Falklands against 1960s aircraft dropping bombs would have been sensational. As China and Russia deploy hypersonic missiles, Phalanx is obsolete.

Phalanx isn't intended to shoot down hypersonic missiles. How can it become obsolete for something it never does?

AiY

[Spet0789]

Phalanx in the Falklands against 1960s aircraft dropping bombs would have been sensational. As China and Russia deploy hypersonic missiles, Phalanx is obsolete.

Phalanx isn't intended to shoot down hypersonic missiles. How can it become obsolete for something it never does?

AiY

Phalanx was designed to protect ships against missiles (plus easier targets like aircraft and small boats). In that it has become obsolete.

If the RAF started deploying Spitfires, they’d be obsolete too. The fact they were intended to shoot down Messerschmitts is neither here nor there.

If you disagree, please let me know. I’ve got an intel 386 PC to sell you. It’s not obsolete, just intended to run MS-DOS!

[JuanDB]

The original video is titled as game play. I don’t think it’s disinformation, rather just been misinterpreted.

Some of the points made in this thread are addressed on the link AIY posted..

Explosive tracer rounds are used on land specifically to deal with the issue of collateral damage. The rounds explode either on contact, or on tracer burnout.

[onthemove]

I'm not convinced the 'enemy' even has hypersonic missiles (aside from some Russian propoganda films) - or if they do reach hypersonic speeds I'll lay money they couldn't hit anything as small as a ship. A large city maybe. And even if they are inexistence, who's to say the western military hasn't already got something to defeat them (jammers, anti missile missiles etc)? And whose to say the west doesnt have, like megasonic weapons? I'll be they do, somewhere.

I wouldn't tell the world even if I had that kind of kit - just let the Russians/Chinese crack on with wasting time on them.

The Chinese are still building aircraft carriers (40 year old tech, but still an aircraft carrier of sorts), which are supposedly the main target for these things. An American/UK nuclear attack sub would have these things scurrying back to port in a second, if they weren't already an artificial reef at the bottom of the SCS.

Ok there is a section detailing the skepticism, but nothing concrete to complete discount the 'carrier killer' claims...

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/DF-21
"The US Department of Defense stated in 2010 that China has developed and reached initial operating capability (IOC)[15] of a conventionally armed[16] high hypersonic[17] land-based anti-ship ballistic missile based on the DF-21. This is the first ASBM and weapon system capable of targeting a moving aircraft carrier strike group from long-range, land-based mobile launchers.[18][19][20] The DF-21D is thought to employ maneuverable reentry vehicles (MaRVs) with a terminal guidance system...

Skepticism
The emergence of the DF-21D has some analysts claiming that the "carrier killer" missiles have rendered the American use of aircraft carriers obsolete, as they are too vulnerable in the face of the new weapon and not worth the expense. Military leaders in the U.S. Navy and Air Force, however, do not see it as a "game changer" to completely count carriers out"

[AsleepInYorkshire]

As China and Russia deploy hypersonic missiles, Phalanx is obsolete.

Phalanx was designed to protect ships against missiles (plus easier targets like aircraft and small boats). In that it has become obsolete.

Thank you for that clarification.

AiY

[AsleepInYorkshire]

I'm not convinced the 'enemy' even has hypersonic missiles (aside from some Russian propoganda films) - or if they do reach hypersonic speeds I'll lay money they couldn't hit anything as small as a ship. A large city maybe. And even if they are inexistence, who's to say the western military hasn't already got something to defeat them (jammers, anti missile missiles etc)? And whose to say the west doesnt have, like megasonic weapons? I'll be they do, somewhere.

I wouldn't tell the world even if I had that kind of kit - just let the Russians/Chinese crack on with wasting time on them.

The Chinese are still building aircraft carriers (40 year old tech, but still an aircraft carrier of sorts), which are supposedly the main target for these things. An American/UK nuclear attack sub would have these things scurrying back to port in a second, if they weren't already an artificial reef at the bottom of the SCS.

The technology is out there to bring down hypersonic missiles. Both the US and now the UK have successfully tested such in live fire exercises.

A Carrier Strike Group by definition is at some point in it's life going to put itself in harms way. It would be pointless if in such a situation it wasn't capable of giving a fair account of itself. These ships and the technology surrounding them is not to scare the enemy off. It is there to kill them. It would be naïve to suggest that technology alone can win an engagement. Well trained service personnel capable of bringing pain to the enemy are part of the mechanism too. Without doubt the UK has some of the best trained armed forces in the world. We also have many friends who share our values and we work closely with them to ensure that our capabilities include numbers too.

The UK's carrier strike group can rely on no less than 7 layers of defence. The last layer is that of the ships design and the capabilities of the ships crew. A ship designed to cope with missile strikes and a crew that can keep the ship in the fight is in itself a formidable asset. HMS Queen Elizabeth has two control towers. An enemy has to remove both to remove the ship from the fight. Whilst not impossible, it's a fair bet that by the time this happened the enemy would be in a far worse state.

Some of the ships defence mechanisms

1. Surveillance & reconnaissance.
2. Decoy
3. Phalanx
4. Ships Design
5. Crew training and commitment
6. Anti missile technology
7. Aircraft & Submarine

One missile has to get through all this and hit the ship. Daring Class destroyers have shown the capability to successfully neutralise hypersonic missiles. If I recall correctly upgraded systems are being considered in this context.

The UK's carrier strike group is not simply an aircraft carrier surrounded by some small ships. It's the culmination of technology. It is well capable of defending itself and returning the pain. By 2025 it will be much improved with additional new frigates.

As I previously mentioned the US does not have any plans for attacking China other than "blockade". Missile batteries based along the Chinese mainland shoreline would be the first element to be removed as the US degraded Chinese capabilities. Once removed various carrier strike groups could take up positions blockading the Chinese coastline.

It would be sensible for any carrier strike group to remain outside of the range of any missile batteries until they are either removed or degraded. Following which it would be virtual suicide for any Chinese military ships to attempt to engage with the US. It's highly probable that both France & the UK would align themselves with US actions and be present. The Chinese have far greater numbers of ships and aircraft that they can deploy. Most are not necessarily fit for purpose and do not have the capabilities needed to mount an effective challenge.

In war people die. Ships get sunk and aircraft shot down. I think we have understood all too well the threat posed by China and Russia and have the capability to protect, project and keep the peace.

AiY

[gryffron]

Some of the ships defence mechanisms

1. Surveillance & reconnaissance.
2. Decoy
3. Phalanx
4. Ships Design
5. Crew training and commitment
6. Anti missile technology
7. Aircraft & Submarine

I recognise marketing BS when I see it.

PS. An ancient Greek trireme had the first six of those. Not much progress in 2,500 years.

[Clitheroekid]

If nothing else it's a vivid demonstration of how effective disinformation can be. It was sent to me in good faith by a friend in Silicon Valley who's the now retired CFO of a large US cyber security company. If he can fall for it then there's not much hope for the rest of us - and I can't wait to tell him!

Errr ... the video is titled (my underline):

"Arma3 defence shooting down missiles phalanx anti missile defense system game play"

and the description immediately below it is:

"phalanx gun in action used by the us military anti missile defense system arma3 game play looks just like the real thing!"

Indeed. However, I originally watched it as an MP4 file called `Skeet Shooting Mideast Style' that was sent to me as an attachment with the (slightly edited) text in my original post.

I obviously couldn't upload it here, so I just Googled and found it on YT almost immediately. Having seen it was the same video I just copied the link without noticing either the title or any of the text underneath.

Anyway, I enjoyed it!

[DiamondEcho]

The Pahalanx gun, certainly not a video. Good luck pirates!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Yf8RExzMdfg