Anti-ship Missile - Countermeasures

Countermeasures

Countermeasures against anti-ship missiles include:

• Anti-missile missiles such as the Russian Navy's 9K33 Osa (SA-N-4 Gecko), 9M330 Tor (SA-N-9 Gauntlet), 9M38 Buk (SA-N-12 Grizzly), Sea Sparrow, the Rolling Airframe Missile, the Standard, or the Royal Navy's Sea Wolf or Sea Dart and the newer Sea Viper.

On February 25, 1991, during the first Gulf War, the Phalanx-equipped USS Jarrett (FFG-33) was a few miles from the USS Missouri (BB-63) and the destroyer HMS Gloucester (D96). The ships were attacked by an Iraqi Silkworm missile (often referred to as the Seersucker), at which Missouri fired its SRBOC chaff. The Phalanx system on Jarrett, operating in the automatic target-acquisition mode, fixed upon Missouri's chaff, releasing a burst of rounds. From this burst, four rounds hit Missouri which was two to three miles (about 5 km) from Jarrett at the time. There were no injuries. A Sea Dart missile was then launched from HMS Gloucester, which destroyed the Iraqi missile, achieving the first successful engagement of a missile by a missile during combat at sea.

• Close-in weapon systems (CIWS), including the Soviet-or Russian-made AK-630 or Kashtan/Каштан or the Phalanx and Goalkeeper. These are automated gun systems mounted on the deck of a ship that use radar to track the approaching missile, and then attempt to shoot it down during its final approach to the target.
• Anti-aircraft guns such as the Mk 45 5-inch naval gun or the AK-130
• Electronic warfare equipment (such as SLQ-32 Electronic Warfare Suite)
• Decoy systems (such as "chaff" - the US Navy's RBOC system), and "flares", or more active decoys such as the Nulka

Modern stealth ships – or ships that at least employ some stealth technology – to reduce the risk of detection and to make them a harder target for the missile itself. These passive countermeasures include:

• reduction of their radar cross section (RCS) and hence radar signature.
• limit a ship's infrared and acoustic signature.

Examples of these include the Norwegian Skjold class patrol boat, the Swedish Visby class corvette, the German Sachsen class frigate, the US Navy's Arleigh Burke class destroyer, their Japanese Maritime Self-Defense Force's close counterparts in AEGIS warships, the Chinese Type 054 frigate and the Type 052C destroyer, the Indian INS Shivalik Class, the French La Fayette class frigate and the newer FREMM multipurpose frigate.