DCNS tests maritime combat system demonstrator

DCNS has tested a new ship-borne anti-terrorism and anti-piracy combat system demonstrator in Toulon harbour, France.

It’s designed to help accelerate decision making and prevent collateral damage in close-quarter defence situations.

A piracy attack was simulated and the DCNS combat system demonstrator showed how quickly it could be used to deploy asymmetric defences.

Ultra-high-definition, 360-degree cameras are dotted around the vessel to gather video footage of the surrounding area and this is then superimposed on top of augmented reality images to allow operators to pick out which vessels aren’t behaving as they should.

When an operator sees suspicious activity they can use a powerful zoom lens to confirm whether or not the threat is real and a response can be implemented, ranging from simply issuing a sound or light warning signal to a warning shot or final protective fire.

There’s even a camera mounted on the weapon to minimise the chance of collateral damage.

The new combat system is compatible with a large number of ships and can operate autonomously or can be integrated within a Combat Management System (CMS) to benefit from other information provided by the vessel’s other sensors or from sensors on board a UAV, which promises an exciting opportunity for surveillance in the future.