MASS decoy protects warships off Lebanon
Richard Scott
 Germany’s Rheinmetall Waffe Munition (Outdoor OD150) has revealed that its MASS (Multi Ammunition Softkill System) countermeasures suite has been fitted as a mission tasking enhancement to German and Swedish warships assigned to UNFIL operations off Lebanon.
Designed as a lightweight, lowsignature, trainable soft-kill system using a single type of multispectral programmable-fuze ammunition, MASS comprises three principal components: a computer control unit hosting engagement algorithms; a low radar crosssection stabilised and trainable 32- barrel launcher; and the 81mm spinstabilised Omni-Trap multispectral decoy for use in both seduction and distraction modes. A multi-part decoy payload provides multispectral coverage of the radar, infrared, laser, electrooptical and ultraviolet wavebands. This ensures effective protection against anti-ship missile seekers and asymmetric terrorist attacks.
The company argues that a single universal payload and the ability to adjust the deployment distance of each munition just before launch using an inductivecoupled computerised electronic fuze enables effective operation in the seduction, distraction and confusion modes without the need to use different radio frequency and infrared decoys. In addition, the laser, ultraviolet and electrooptical payloads provide screening against many land-based weapon guidance systems.
The German Ministry of Defence sanctioned an urgent operational requirement in late 2006 for the installation of MASS aboard the F 123 frigate Schleswig-Holstein. Working under a contract worth about _4m, Rheinmetall is fully integrating MASS with the ship’s combat system – a first for a NATO navy – in an extremely tight timeframe, with Schleswig-Holstein deploying to join the UNIFIL operation at the start of April.
Two Royal Swedish Navy Göteborg-class corvettes, HMS Gävle and HMS Sundsvall, had already been fitted with MASS, the system being installed at short notice last September as a standalone fit. Rheinmetall said the fitment of MASS aboard Gävle, which has been deployed in the waters off Lebanon since October, was undertaken “under extremely demanding logistical and organisational conditions”. MASS has to date been ordered for the navies of Germany (K 130 corvettes), Finland (Squadron 2000 fast attack craft), Norway (Skjold class fast strike craft), Sweden (Visby, Göteborg and Malmö class) and the United Arab Emirates (Baynunah corvettes). It has also been selected for Oman’s new Khareef ocean patrol
vessels.
 Countermeasures installed aboard the Schleswig-Holstein
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