U.S. 7th Fleet and the Navy Warfare Development Command (NWDC) tested how radar-absorbing, carbon-fiber clouds can prevent a missile from detecting and striking its target, June 21-25, U.S. Navy says.
The Navy tested these manmade clouds, called maritime obscurant generator prototypes, to assess their tactical effectiveness for anti-ship missile defense.
The systems and tactics were tested under a variety of at-sea conditions using assets from the U.S. Army, Navy, and Air Force to evaluate how the radar-absorbing, carbon-fiber clouds can protect naval assets as part of a layered defense.
A shipboard device generated the carbon-fiber particles which were suspended in a cloud of smoke. These clouds can absorb or diffuse radar waves emanating from the seekers of incoming missiles and potentially obscure friendly ships from those missiles.
The experiment demonstrated how maritime obscurant generation can be a key enabler of offensive maneuver of the Fleet despite the global proliferation of anti-ship cruise and ballistic missiles.
In addition to having a significant level of effectiveness, the systems are relatively inexpensive when compared to other countermeasures and can be tactically employed through typical Fleet maneuvers. The materials are environmentally friendly and sized to maximize operational effectiveness.